After California, now Indiana revokes 1,790 commercial driver licenses

Bathinda: After California, now Indiana State Bureau of Motor Vehicles in the US has revoked 1,790 non-domiciled commercial driver's licences (CDLs) following crackdown on immigrant drivers. The driver licences officially expired from April 1, but those visa holders of H-2A (agricultural), H-2B (non-agricultural) and E-2 (treaty investor) were saved from getting their licences revoked.As per reports, apart from crackdown on immigrants, the revocation is based on certain accidents, including a crash involving one Sukhdeep Singh in Feb 2026, wherein a US citizen died. Earlier, nearly 17,000 licences were revoked upon expiration in California. Though there is no exact number of drivers of Punjab origin, as per Sikh organisations working in the US, there are sizeable number of drivers of Punjab origin whose licences have been revoked upon expiry of the licences. Humanitarian organisation United Sikhs has started helplines across the US states for the drivers losing their CDLs. "Thousands of CDL holders in Indiana are facing sudden licence cancellations, putting livelihoods, families and entire communities at risk. Many are being left without a fair chance to respond. If your commercial driver's licence has been affected due to non-domicile status issues or possible errors, we are here to support. Reach out to the United Sikhs' Umeed Helpline for guidance and support. Our team is working to assist affected commercial truck drivers and owner-operators with information and support," stated United Sikhs while issuing the helpline numbers.Sikh advocacy group Sikh Coalition is out to oppose the revocation of licences and support the aggrieved drivers. A spokesperson stated, "The finalised strict, updated regulations by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) under the US Department of Transportation (DOT), designed to tighten requirements for non-domiciled commercial driver's licences (CDLs) and enforce existing English-language proficiency standards, have caused significant concern over supply chain disruptions due to a potential shortage of qualified drivers. This rule prohibits entire classes of immigrants from obtaining non-domiciled CDLs not based on their qualifications or abilities, but solely because of their immigration status," stated the spokesperson.Earlier on April 1, Indiana Lt Governor Micah Beckwith announced this in a social media post: "All commercial driver's licences for undocumented immigrants in the state of Indiana will expire at midnight on Wednesday for those unable to provide proper visas. Moving forward, all future non-citizen CDL applications will need one of three approved work visas while also requiring the driver to demonstrate proficiency in English. In addition, any employers who knowingly hire illegal drivers without a valid CDL will face a $50,000 fine. This is a great first step in making our streets safer for Hoosiers. Now it's our duty to enforce these new laws and prevent any more senseless deaths."New federal rules limit these licences to specific visa holders H-2A (agricultural), H-2B (non-agricultural) and E-2 (treaty investor) nonimmigrant statuses and restrict the use of Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) for obtaining or renewing a CDL, say the reports in the US.The notices to those 1,790 driving licence holders were issued on March 16 and these were revoked from the midnight of April 1.As per new Final Rule, it requires stricter immigration verification via the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and enforces strict English-language standards, which, if not met, will lead to further revocations.As per final rule, State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs) are required to query the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE system to verify the legal immigration status of non-citizen applicants. Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) are no longer accepted as sufficient proof for non-domiciled CDL issuance. MSID:: 129998360 413 |