California Revokes 17K Commercial Driver's Licenses Issued to Immigrants

California will revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) issued to immigrants after an audit revealed the expiration dates extended beyond when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the US.

The Details: While California officials maintained the drivers had valid federal work authorizations, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the decision was an admission of the state's prior misconduct. California regulators later acknowledged that a law requiring licenses to expire when a person's legal status ends had not been properly enforced.

Federal Limitations: In September, Duffy imposed new limits on which immigrants can qualify for commercial licenses, revoked $40 million in federal funding, and accused California of failing to enforce English-language requirements. New federal rules restrict eligibility for commercial licenses to H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa categories, meaning only about 10,000 of the 200,000 unauthorized immigrants who have CDLs would qualify for them. The rule will not affect the other 190,000 license holders until renewal.

For Context: The decision comes in the wake of fatal truck crashes in various states involving unauthorized immigrants. In October, Indian national Jashanpreet Singh was driving a semi-truck on California's 10 Freeway when he rammed into several vehicles, leaving three dead and four others hospitalized in various conditions. In August, a Florida truck driver who entered the US illegally in 2018 faced homicide charges and deportation after allegedly causing a crash that killed three people. 

How the Media Covered It: The New York Post (Lean Right bias) emphasized the licenses were issued illegally and highlighted fatal accidents involving immigrant drivers. It also underlined Duffy's criticism of California's actions. It quoted Duffy saying Newsom has been caught "red-handed" and that "this is just the tip of the iceberg." The Washington Post (Lean Left) focused more on the response from Newsom's office, noting that the revoked licenses belonged to drivers with valid federal work authorizations. It also emphasized the number of immigrants who didn't qualify under Duffy's action. The Sun-Sentinel (Center) reported both the criticisms from the Trump administration and the rebuttal from Newsom's office. It wrote Duffy's rules make getting CDLs "extremely hard," and noted states will have to verify an applicant's immigration status in a federal database.

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