Federal Judge Blocks DHS Access to 17 Million Commercial Driver Records › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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EXCERPT:
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from accessing a database containing records on approximately 17 million commercial drivers as the Trump administration seeks to identify illegal immigrants holding commercial driver’s licenses.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga issued an administrative stay preventing DHS from accessing records maintained by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Trenga, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, also ordered the department to return records it had already obtained and prohibited officials from reviewing them.
The order follows a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Democratic-led states challenging the federal government’s demand for the data.
The states argue that DHS does not have authority to obtain the records in bulk and should instead be required to issue individual subpoenas for information it seeks, according to FreightWaves.
The Trump administration asserts that access to the database is necessary to identify immigrants who are in the country illegally but have received commercial driver’s licenses from states. Federal officials say the effort is intended to determine whether licenses were improperly issued and improve highway safety.
