California revokes 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants

LOS ANGELES - California state officials announced Wednesday that the state plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) given to immigrants. 

The action is being taken after the state discovered that the expiration dates on the licenses extended past the point when the drivers were legally authorized to be in the U.S.

Local perspective:

The announcement follows harsh criticism from the Trump administration about California and other states granting licenses to people in the country illegally. 

California launched its review of the CDLs it issued after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised concerns. Duffy previously said earlier this fall that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses to non-citizens, but California is the only state Duffy has taken action against because it was the first one where an audit was completed. 

The reviews in the other states have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the Transportation Department is urging all of them to tighten their standards.

The backstory:

The issue of licenses being issued to non-citizens not authorized to be in the U.S. was brought into the public eye in August, when a tractor-trailer driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. 

Fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year also highlight questions about these licenses. 

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Last month, a fiery California crash that killed three people involved a truck driver in the country illegally, only adding to the concerns. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state followed guidance it received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about issuing these licenses to non-citizens.

What they're saying:

Duffyt said Wednesday that California’s action to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly even though it previously defended its licensing standards.

"After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked," Duffy said, referring to the state’s governor. "This is just the tip of iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses."

Newsom’s office said that every one of the drivers whose license is being revoked had valid work authorizations from the federal government. Newsom’s spokesperson Brandon richards shot back at Duffy in a statement.

"Once again, the Sean ‘road rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader," Richards said.

Advocacy group UNITED SIKHS is condemning the decision, calling it "government-sanctioned discrimination."

"According to the U.S. Constitution, anyone who is on U.S. soil is legal, they have the same protections as any U.S.-born person," said Bhupinder Kaur, Director of Operations for UNITED SIKHS.

The move could have a great impact on the economy, as the country continues to face a trucker shortage. Karen Cornejo of the Los Angeles Trucking College says there has been a shortage of drivers since the pandemic.

"It makes you think 'Now we have to fill those positions. What's going to happen?' Assuming that they're all driving," said Cornejo.

She said the consequences could be felt immediately, just as the busy holiday shopping season begins.

What we know:

The state law that Newsom’s office revealed it was referring to requires the licenses expire on or before a person’s legal status to be in the U.S. ends, as reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Duffy previously revoked $40 million in federal funding because he said California isn’t enforcing English-language requirements for truckers, and he reiterated Wednesday that he will take another $160 million from the state over these improperly issued licenses if they don’t invalidate every illegal license and address all the concerns. 

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The revoking of these 17,000 licenses is part of the state’s effort to comply.

Duffy said in September that investigators found that one quarter of the 145 licenses they reviewed in California shouldn’t have been issued. He cited four California licenses that remained valid after the driver’s work permit expired — sometimes years after.

What's next:

Duffy previously imposed new restrictions on which immigrants can qualify for commercial driver’s licenses. 

The new rules for commercial driver’s licenses that Duffy announced in September make getting them extremely hard for immigrants because only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible: H-2A (for temporary agricultural workers), H-2B (for temporary non-agricultural workers), and E-2 (for people who make substantial investments in a U.S. business).

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States will also have to verify an applicant’s immigration status in a federal database. The licenses will be valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires sooner. These new requirements were not in place at the time the 17,000 California licenses were issued.

Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 non-citizens who have commercial licenses would qualify for them. However, the rules won’t be enforced retroactively, so the 190,000 other drivers will be allowed to keep their commercial licenses at least until they come up for renewal.

ImmigrationCaliforniaTransportationDonald J. Trump