California officials put a sudden stop to plans to revoke roughly 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses on Tuesday, pushing the enforcement deadline to March. The delay offers a temporary reprieve for thousands of truck and bus drivers currently caught in a standoff between state regulators and federal demands.
The decision arrived just one week after immigrant advocacy groups filed a class-action lawsuit to halt the cancellations. State officials indicated the extra time is necessary to ensure that drivers who legally qualify for their credentials aren’t accidentally swept up in the purge.
READ: ‘Highway Sentinel’ Sweep Nabs 101 Truckers As Feds Target California License Policy
Tensions over commercial licensing have escalated since August, following a crash in Florida that killed three people involving a truck driver unauthorized to be in the U.S. In response, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has aggressively pressured states to ensure immigrants in the country illegally are not holding commercial licenses.
Duffy has threatened to withhold millions in federal funding from California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, citing audits that found significant lapses, such as licenses remaining valid long after a driver’s work permit had expired.
The Sikh Coalition and the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus, who filed the suit, argue that immigrant drivers are being unfairly targeted. Mumeeth Kaur, the legal director of the Sikh Coalition, described the delay as “an important step towards alleviating the immediate threat that these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods.”
READ: Duffy Pulls $160 Million More In Federal Funding From California Over CDLs For Illegal Immigrants
Conversely, trucking trade organizations have largely supported the federal crackdown. These groups have praised efforts to remove drivers who cannot speak English or who lack proper qualifications, framing it as a critical safety issue. This push aligns with recent findings that 44% of U.S. trucking schools fail to comply with government rules.
While immigrants comprise about 20% of the trucking workforce, the specific “non-domiciled” licenses at the center of this dispute represent only about 5% of all commercial licenses nationwide.
California DMV Director Steve Gordon highlighted the economic risks involved in the dispute. “Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don’t move, and our communities don’t stay connected without them,” Gordon said.
READ: “Left In The Cold”: 20,000 Immigrant Truckers Sue California DMV To Stop Mass License Purge
Duffy did not immediately comment on the delay. While the revocations are paused, California remains unable to issue new commercial driver’s licenses, a process the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration blocked earlier in December while the state works to satisfy federal reform requirements.
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