California delays revocations of thousands of commercial driver’s licenses after immigrant groups sue

California will delay the revocation of 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses until March, allowing more time to verify the eligibility of truckers and bus drivers, following a lawsuit from immigrant groups. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the state may lose $160 million in federal funding if it doesn’t meet a Jan. 5 deadline to revoke the licenses.

California Commercial Driver’s License Revocations Delayed

The delay comes after immigrant groups filed a lawsuit alleging unfair targeting of truck drivers. The Sikh Coalition and the Asian Law Caucus filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of the California drivers.

Duffy had already withheld $40 million in federal funding, citing California’s alleged failure to enforce English proficiency requirements for truckers. California initially issued notices to invalidate the licenses after pressure from Duffy to ensure licenses weren’t granted to immigrants in the country illegally.

An audit revealed issues such as licenses remaining valid after an immigrant’s authorization to be in the country had expired, and instances where the state couldn’t verify immigration status checks.

“California does NOT have an ‘extension’ to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads,” Duffy posted on X.

The Department of Transportation has prioritized this issue following a fatal crash in Florida in August involving a truck driver not authorized to be in the U.S., which resulted in three deaths. A similar fatal crash occurred in California in October, and the driver in that incident is also a Sikh.

California officials stated they are working to satisfy the federal Transportation Department with the reforms implemented. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration previously blocked the state’s plan to resume issuing commercial driver’s licenses in mid-December.

“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.

Immigrants comprise approximately 20% of all truck drivers, but licenses issued to non-domiciled immigrants represent about 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses, or roughly 200,000 drivers. New restrictions proposed by the Transportation Department, limiting noncitizen access to licenses, are currently on hold due to a court order.

Mumeeth Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, called the delay “an important step towards alleviating the immediate threat that these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods.”

Duffy had previously threatened to withhold millions in federal funding from California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota due to similar audit findings. He dropped the threat to California after the state agreed to revoke the licenses.

Trucking trade groups have supported efforts to remove unqualified or non-English-speaking drivers from the road and applauded the Transportation Department’s focus on questionable commercial driver’s license schools.