California delays cancellation of 17K commercial drivers licenses following immigrants’ lawsuit
California decided to revoke the licenses after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pressured the state to make sure immigrants who are in the country illegally aren’t granted the licenses. Getty Images
California will delay the revocation of roughly 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses until March, state officials announced Tuesday, one week after immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit challenging the move. The delay is intended to give the state more time to ensure that truck and bus drivers who are legally eligible to hold commercial licenses are able to keep them.
The state began the revocation process after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pressed California to tighten oversight and prevent people who are in the country illegally from receiving commercial driver’s licenses.
The Transportation Department has focused on the issue following an August crash in Florida in which a truck driver who was not authorized to work in the United States made an illegal U-turn, causing a collision that killed three people. Duffy did not immediately comment on California’s decision to delay the revocations. State officials said they are continuing to work with federal regulators to address concerns and ensure compliance with new safeguards.
California had planned to resume issuing commercial driver’s licenses in mid-December, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration blocked that plan.
“Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don’t move, and our communities don’t stay connected without them,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon.
The lawsuit was filed by the Sikh Coalition, a national Sikh civil rights organization, and the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus. The groups brought the class-action suit on behalf of affected California drivers, arguing that immigrant truck drivers were being unfairly targeted.
They noted that the driver involved in the Florida crash and another driver involved in a fatal crash in California in October are both Sikhs. Immigrants make up about 20% of the U.S. trucking workforce, while non-domiciled commercial licenses issued to immigrants account for about 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses nationwide, or roughly 200,000 drivers.
The Transportation Department has also proposed new rules that would significantly limit which noncitizens can qualify for commercial driver’s licenses, though those rules are currently on hold due to a court order.
Mumeeth Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, said the delay “is an important step toward alleviating the immediate threat these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods.”
Duffy has previously warned that millions of dollars in federal transportation funding could be withheld from California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota after audits revealed major compliance issues, including licenses remaining valid long after immigrant drivers’ work permits had expired.
Trucking industry groups have praised efforts to remove unqualified drivers from the roads, particularly those who lack proper credentials or English-language proficiency. They have also welcomed the Transportation Department’s crackdown on commercial driver’s license schools accused of operating improperly.
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