Texas Enforces English-only Requirement for Commercial Driver’s Licenses
Texas is moving to enforce a requirement that holders of commercial driver’s licenses understand English.
On June 1, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that “all Texas CDL [commercial driver’s license] and commercial learner permit (CLP) knowledge examinations will be administered in English only,” removing the Spanish-language option that had previously existed.
DPS explained:
This change aligns Texas’ testing procedures with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) English language proficiency requirements and will help ensure that all newly licensed commercial drivers have the communication skills necessary to operate these vehicles safely on Texas roads. Previously, CDL knowledge tests were offered in both English and Spanish. The hands-on CDL skills test, which includes pre-trip inspection, basic control skills and the road test, has always been conducted in English only.
That same day, the department announced separately that it had received “approval by the [FMCSA] to resume the issuance of non-domiciled [CDLs] and [CLPs] for individuals with H-2A (Temporary Agricultural Workers) status.” DPS stopped issuing licenses for multiple categories of migrants — including H-2A visa holders, refugees, and DACA recipients — in September 2025, and this announcement partially reverses the suspension.
Other Steps
DPS’s announcement is only the latest step taken by Texas and the federal government in cracking down on foreign commercial drivers who don’t speak English. On April 28, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to enforce English-language requirements for commercial drivers, and on September 4, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered DPS to enforce those federal requirements. Earlier this year, the FMCSA implemented new rules to strengthen the English-language requirements.
Texas officials have pursued additional enforcement measures. In November 2025, DPS imposed photo-identification requirements on vehicle registrations and renewals, an effort to prevent illegal aliens from owning vehicles. And Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in April 2026 that his office is investigating “numerous trucking schools for endangering Texans by providing inadequate commercial driver training, including to non-English speakers.”
Texas’ crackdown on illegal-alien and other non-English-speaking commercial drivers demonstrates how states can — and must — take action themselves to combat mass migration. Constitutionally, authority over immigration resides with the states. Nowhere does the U.S. Constitution grant the federal government authority over immigration — only naturalization. States have allowed the federal government to unconstitutionally usurp their authority on a wide range of topics, including immigration, and they must reclaim that authority — as Texas briefly did during the Biden administration.
Unfortunately, Texas’ actions are happening in compliance with — and with permission from — the FMCSA, an unconstitutional federal agency. Instead of subserviently obeying the federal government — even to implement beneficial policies — Texas should reclaim its sovereign authority and govern independently from unconstitutional federal dictates.
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