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California is revoking 17,000 commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) held by foreign nationals following a federal audit that uncovered widespread procedural errors. The move is expected to have a significant impact on Indian-origin truckers, who form a substantial part of the state's trucking industry.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has sent notices to the affected drivers, informing them that their licenses will expire in 60 days because they no longer meet federal requirements The core issue, identified in a nationwide audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), is that many licenses were issued with expiration dates that extended beyond the drivers' period of legal, authorized presence in the United States.The audit revealed that over a quarter of the non-domiciled CDL records sampled in California failed to comply with federal regulations
This large-scale revocation follows intense pressure from the U.S. Department of Transportation, led by Secretary Sean Duffy, who accused California of "illegally issuing" licenses. The scrutiny on foreign-born drivers intensified after a series of fatal truck crashes, including one in California involving a driver from India who was in the country illegally Secretary Duffy has threatened to withhold millions in federal highway funding if California does not fully comply with federal standards.
In response, the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom has contested the federal administration's narrative, asserting that every driver whose license is being revoked had valid federal work authorization at the time of issuance. A spokesperson for the governor's office clarified the issue was a matter of state compliance regarding license expiration dates, not about issuing licenses to “illegal immigrants.”
The trucking industry in California has increasingly relied on immigrant drivers, particularly from India's Sikh community, to address labor shortages. This crackdown places the livelihoods of thousands of these drivers in jeopardy as federal regulations tighten. Under new emergency rules, eligibility for non-domiciled CDLs has been drastically restricted, and states are now required to pause issuing such licenses until new federal standards are met.
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