Does the Teachers' Union Really Want Noncitizens Driving Your Kids to School?
The American Federation of Teachers joins a lawsuit to block stricter commercial driver's license rules—putting social justice ideology ahead of child safety.
Teachers' unions should want the best interests of children. So why is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) suing to keep drivers who can't read English behind the wheel of school buses?
Leftist groups are fighting to keep dangerous alien commercial drivers on the road. The AFT, one of the nation's largest teachers' unions, just joined a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Trump administration's efforts to remove them.
The Transportation Department's (DOT) rules require that "non-citizens will not be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet a much stricter set of rules, including an employment-based visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check using the SAVE system."
The Trump administration is cracking down on non-compliant training centers that provide instruction for commercial driver's licenses (CDL). In February, the DOT discovered more than 500 sham CDL training schools including one that specialized in teaching school bus drivers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, "If you can't be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus."
Teachers' unions nevertheless want to put these drivers behind the wheel of school buses carrying American children.
Why It Matters
- In 2025, illegal immigrants driving commercial trucks were involved in fatal crashes that killed at least 30 Americans; similar incidents have continued in 2026.
- In May 2026, a non-English speaking naturalized citizen from China, caused a fatal crash in Virginia that killed five people. His bus slammed into an SUV on Interstate 95. He required an interpreter to communicate in court.
- In July 2026, a Haitian man operating a semi struck a Pennsylvania State Police vehicle during a roadside inspection, killing Trooper Michael Pahira.
- Not only are aliens committing crimes by crossing the border illegally, but many could also have criminal records in their own countries that wouldn't show up in a standard background check. Since 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has arrested over 70,000 aliens with a past criminal history.
- When the DOT reviewed CDL compliance in California they found that more than 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs were improperly issued. One driver from Brazil was given endorsements to drive a school bus that was valid after his legal presence expired.
The Bottom Line
Activist teachers' unions put their social justice anti-law enforcement agendas before student safety. Regarding the stricter rules for CDLs, AFT president Randi Weingarten said, "This is a spiteful and illegal rule issued with no justification except to hurt hundreds of thousands of lawful immigrants . . . Their American Dream will be dashed or deferred, all because of the pettiness of the president and his advisers."
America's highways—and especially its school buses—are no place for Russian roulette.
When teachers' unions fight to keep non-citizens who cannot speak English, lack proper work authorization, and may carry unvetted criminal records behind the wheel of vehicles carrying our children, they reveal that ideology matters more to them than safety. The Trump administration's stricter CDL rules are not "spiteful"; they are the bare minimum required to stop preventable deaths. Every parent, every community, and every responsible official should demand that those rules stand—and that the people who put politics ahead of children's lives be held to account.
MORE FROM RESTORATION NEWS:
- The Trump Administration Has Made American Highways Safer
- It’s Time to Revoke the Activist Teachers’ Union’s Federal Charter
- Changes to Military Ballot Requests Will Disarm Democrat’s Overseas Voter Registration Racket
- EXCLUSIVE: Why DHS Is Targeting the Left's Vote-Mining Machine
- ICE Thwarts Alleged War Criminal from Obtaining U.S. Citizenship—Why It Matters
