The U.S. Department of Transportation’s emergency final rule that would limit which immigrants can get commercial driver’s licenses has been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

The court in the District of Columbia ruled Nov. 13 that the restrictions on non-domiciled CDLs that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in September can’t be enforced right now.

On Nov. 10, the court issued an administrative stay while it reviewed emergency motions. Several days later, the court ruled the federal government didn’t follow proper procedure in drafting the rule, and failed to “articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.” 

The ruling focused on procedural issues such as whether the Transportation Department properly consulted with states before issuing the new rules.

“This is not a ruling on the merits of the case. Secretary Duffy will continue working to keep unqualified, foreign drivers off American roads,” a Transportation Department spokesman said.

However, the court did point out in the ruling that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own data shows immigrants who hold these licenses account for roughly 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses but only about 0.2% of all fatal crashes.

DOT’s new restrictions on these licenses would only allow immigrants who hold three specific classes of visas to be eligible to get the licenses. States would also have to verify an applicant’s immigration status in a federal database. The licenses would be valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires sooner.

Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who have commercial licenses would qualify for them, which would only be available to drivers who have an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa. The rules won’t be enforced retroactively, so those 190,000 drivers would be allowed to keep their commercial licenses at least until they come up for renewal.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.