Delaware is among more than 20 states challenging demands submitted by two federal agencies for data with 17 million records for CDL drivers.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced the state would join both a complaint against the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for its request for the information, and a request to quash a subpoena submitted by theDepartment of Homeland Security.
Jennings's statement accused the Trump administration of,“jeopardizing millions of working classAmericans’ privacy in service of an unrelated immigration agenda.”
As of 2024, DelDOT said Delaware had nearly 35 thousand credentialed CDL drivers. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said the PA-NJ-DE-MD area is one of the top ten metropolitan areas for employment of Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.
The U.S. Dept of Transportation contracts with the AAMVA, a nonprofit organization, to operate CDLIS for the benefit of the states. States signed on to the legal challenges– led by Illinois– say the information it provides to AAMVA belongs to the states.
The FMCSA asked for the information in June, for regulatory oversight purposes. But the AAMVA expressed concern the disclosure violated its agreement with states to act as a depository for its CDL information. Then in July, DHS issued a subpoena for the same data, for immigration enforcement.
On August 11, the federal agencies reissued the subpoena and asked AAMVA to share the information by August 17, or risk losing contracts and funding. The legal challenges ask a US District Court judge in Virginia to immediately put a hold on the demands for disclosure.
