Posted on 03/07/2026 6:38:49 AM PST by TheDon
The California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that the federal government is requiring them to cancel the commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) of thousands of immigrant truck drivers in the state.
According to a release from the California DMV, approximately 13,000 non-domiciled CDLs are being revoked. DMV said non-domiciled people are "those who do not have citizenship or lawful permanent resident status, and includes holders of various visas, refugees, and asylees."
DMV said the not all non-domiciled CDL drivers will be effected by the government's decision and drivers affected should have already received a cancellation notice.
Last year, the DMV began canceling some commercial licenses belonging to drivers with temporary legal status, including asylum seekers, DACA recipients and TPS holders.
This week, the Superior Court of California in Alameda County ordered the DMV to fix the issue affecting thousands of drivers whose licenses were set to expire on March 6.
The judge's decision comes in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by the Sikh Coalition, Asian Law Caucus, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP on behalf of commercial drivers and the Jakara Movement.
In a release, DMV accused the Trump Administration of making misleading statements about CDLs being issued to immigrant drivers in California.
"All the individuals issued non-domiciled CDLs by the DMV had been granted work authorization by the federal government and were legally present in the United States at the time their license was issued," DMV said. " While a recent court ruling now allows affected individuals to submit a new CDL application, the federal government is barring the DMV from processing these applications currently. Given that the DMV is compliant with state and federal law, it is incumbent upon the federal government to allow the DMV to process those applications and issue licenses to eligible drivers."
Drivers impacted by the federal government's decision must obtain a new Class C California driver's license in order to continue driving passenger vehicles and light duty trucks, DMV said.
DMV also said Friday that it previously attempted to issue corrected CDLs to affected drivers, consistent with California and federal law, but was blocked from doing so by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
"This federal administration is using their war on immigration to remove qualified, hardworking commercial drivers from our workforce who meet language and safety rules,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “There are no guarantees that additional solutions will become available to help these drivers and their employers but, in the meantime, there are immediate actions they must take to get a Class C license to be able to drive regular cars.”
The court order requires the DMV to create a process to prevent some wrongful cancellations and allow other drivers to quickly reapply if their license is canceled. However, the ruling does not automatically stop all cancellations, meaning some drivers could temporarily lose their ability to work while the new process is put into place.
For many, even a short gap without a license could mean lost income while the state works to implement the court's order.
KCRA 3 spoke with a driver whose license was canceled. He said this is going to have a huge impact on his family since he now doesn’t have a source of income to pay the bills.
"It's really hard for us. You know, I'm stressing out. You know, my whole family's really in a hardship right now,” Amarjit Singh said.
Last year, two deadly crashes made national headlines, one in August and one in October, both involving immigrant truck drivers with commercial licenses in California. Those cases sparked criticism from the Trump administration, which then launched an audit.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said its audit in the fall identified problems with truckers and bus drivers who had licenses that showed they were valid long after their visas were set to expire.
State officials say the issue stems from a federal requirement that commercial licenses cannot be valid longer than a driver's work authorization.
Federal officials also warned that California could lose millions in highway funding if it failed to revoke thousands of licenses.
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Thousands of California illegal alien truck drivers lose license due to federal crackdown, DMV says
MAGA!
cancel the commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) of thousands of immigrant truck drivers in the state.
they got it wrong. Those drivers don’t stay in the state. They go all over the nation.
20 years from now it will be a moot point because trucks will drive themselves.
Lots of these people can’t read English, which is rather important for reading road signage. Which is a requirement to get issued a CDL. Many of these people were issued CDLs fraudulently.
“No Name Given” hardest hit ,LOL
Anybody that thinks pulling their D/Ls will keep all these immigrants from continuing to drive is naive.
It’s going to put a crimp on trucking illegals out of Mexico.
Yeah
Based on reports from late 2025 and early 2026, over 20,000 immigrant commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders, many of whom are the worst offenders......non-English speaking Indians and Punjabis who killed Americans ........have had their licenses revoked or flagged for cancellation, primarily in California.
This action stems from a federal audit identifying that these licenses had expiration dates extending beyond the drivers’ legal authorization to work in the United States. (Advanced Career Institute)
In November 2025, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued notices to roughly 17,000 to 17,300 non-domiciled CDL holders that their licenses would be canceled, with the number subsequently rising to over 20,000.
The majority of the impacted drivers are non-English speaking from the Indian community, specifically from Punjab and Haryana. The primary reason for the mass cancellation was that the license expiration dates in the DMV system exceeded the drivers’ legal work authorization documents.
English Proficiency: Separate from the California audit, over 7,200 Indian and Punjabi truck drivers nationwide were barred from operating for failing mandatory English proficiency tests.
The Sikh Coalition and Asian Law Caucus operating on American soil filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the affected drivers, arguing that these cancellations were due to clerical errors by the DMV and not driver misconduct. The crackdown has caused significant disruption to the supply chain, with thousands of trucks parked and drivers off the roads. (CalMatters)
While initially set for cancellation in early 2026, the situation remains fluid, with some reports indicating that the California DMV was working to correct or reissue licenses to eligible drivers, while others were seeking legal remedies. (KQED)
Play hardball. Cancel the visas of all legal immigrant California CDL holders and deport them.
If they’re genuine legal immigrants I’m confident they’ll be permitted to keep their licenses.
IF INSPECTIONS AT WEIGH STATIONS INCREASE-—MORE WILL BE FOUND,.
Good idea!!!
That’s been going on in my state for awhile and I don’t hear too much about this issue here.
I voted for this!
It will be impossible to insure them and any carriers who employ them are committing a federal crime and the managers/owners can be sent to prison for it.
In the commercial truck, World losing your license citizen or not is the fastest way out of the cab. If the company doesn’t kick you out and the insurance company doesn’t kick you out the next open scale house Will
So did I.
No...title should be “Thousands of illegal truck drivers returned to their home country!”
Excellent!!! Winning again.
Maybe now we can put AMERICANS BACK IN THOSE SEATS!
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