California Is Revoking Licenses of 17,000 Immigrant Truckers Amid Federal Pressure

Around 17,000 immigrant truck drivers in California are set to have their commercial driver’s licenses revoked by the Department of Motor Vehicles, raising concerns from truckers and advocates for their livelihood and the effect on the state’s economy.

According to the DMV, the expiration dates of these licenses go past the time drivers are legally allowed to be in the U.S. The agency notified drivers of the move in letters sent out in the last week.

Drivers will lose their licenses 60 days after receiving the letter, which also affects their personal licenses. Commercial truckers, many of them immigrants, make up a crucial part of the state’s transportation and distribution system.

“How are you going to support your family when you’ve lost your job?” said Bill Aboudi, owner of the AB Trucking Company, based out of the Port of Oakland.

Aboudi said an overwhelming majority of the truckers he works with have recently immigrated from places such as Ukraine and Afghanistan and have a temporary work permit while they apply for asylum — a process with a timeline they cannot control.

The license revocations come amid pressure from the Trump administration. In September, the DMV began a review of licenses held by non-domiciled commercial drivers — immigrant drivers in the country with certain work visas — after the federal Department of Transportation issued stricter rules that limit which lawfully present foreigners qualify for commercial licenses.

Last month, administration officials pointed to a fiery crash that killed three people in San Bernardino County when a truck slammed into several vehicles on the 10 Freeway. Jashanpreet Singh, 21, was accused of driving while intoxicated, and soon after, Trump administration officials shared on social media that he has no legal immigration status.

“This is exactly why I set new restrictions that prohibit ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS from operating trucks,” wrote Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who has also threatened to pull $160 million in federal funding from California for what he called the state’s refusal to follow his agency’s new rules for commercial licenses.

After confirming that thousands of immigrant truckers will lose their licenses, Duffy claimed victory on Thursday. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said in a statement. “My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”

State officials have pushed back against Duffy’s declaration, noting that the drivers who will lose their licenses are not in the country illegally and have some form of work permit from the federal government.

“Once again, Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader,” said Brandon Richards, spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Labor groups, however, have criticized the state’s decision to revoke these licenses.

“They should have pushed back harder on the federal government,” said Shane Gusman, legislative director for Teamsters California, adding that in the letters that the DMV sent out to truckers, it justified its actions by pointing to the Trump administration’s new rules.

But on Thursday, a federal judge issued an emergency stay blocking the White House from enforcing these regulations until the courts reach a final decision about their legality. With this latest update, California should rescind the letters it has already sent out, Gusman said: “Those federal rules are not in effect right now. … There’s no authority for the letter.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to questions from KQED on how it plans to move forward while the federal rules remain frozen.

But not taking action to bring these drivers back into the workforce could have serious consequences for the state’s economy, Gusman said.

“If you just look at any one of our major ports where cargo is coming in and out, it is a largely immigrant workforce from the driver’s side of things,” he said.

And consumers could potentially see higher prices in the future.

“When you have a pool of drivers pulled out, the trucking industry will have to balance it out,” said Aboudi of the AB Trucking Company. “That is going to weaken our trucking system in the state, applying demand, and of course, costs will go up.”