California delays cancellation of 17,000 immigrant commercial driver’s licences; Trump administration warns state putting 'Americans at risk'

California will delay the cancellation of around 17,000 commercial driver’s licences until March to allow more time for truckers and bus drivers who legally qualify to keep them, the Blue state announced on Tuesday.

The move comes a week after immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit challenging the revocations.

The US department of transportation warned California that failing to meet a January 5 deadline could cost the state $160 million in federal funds. Secretary Sean Duffy has already held back $40 million because he claims the state is not making sure commercial drivers meet English language requirements.




California only began sending notices to revoke the licences after Duffy pressured the state to ensure that immigrants who are in the country illegally are not granted commercial driving privileges. An audit found licences that remained valid long after an immigrant’s legal authorisation expired and also cases where the state could not confirm it had checked a driver’s immigration status properly.

“California does NOT have an ‘extension’ to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads,” Duffy said in a post on X.

In August, a truck driver who was not authorised to be in the US made an illegal U-turn in Florida, causing a crash that killed three people. In October, a similar incident in California involved an unauthorised driver in a crash that also resulted in fatalities.

Are Sikh drivers being targeted?

The Sikh Coalition and the Asian Law Caucus filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the affected drivers, saying that immigrant truckers were being unfairly targeted. Mumeeth Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, said the delay “is an important step towards alleviating the immediate threat that these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods.”

Immigrants are around 20 per cent of all truck drivers, but the special non-domiciled licences they can get make up only 5 per cent of California’s commercial licences. A court has paused federal efforts to make stricter rules on who among noncitizens can qualify.

California officials said they are working to ensure the federal Transportation Department is satisfied with the reforms implemented.

Department of Motor Vehicles (DMC) director Steve Gordon said, “Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don’t move, and our communities don’t stay connected without them.”