The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that California will lose an additional $160 million for delaying the revocations of 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously withheld $40 million in federal funding, citing that California was not enforcing English proficiency requirements for truckers.
In a federal audit, it was discovered that licenses for many truckers and bus drivers remained valid long after immigrants' visas expired. Investigators found that more than 25% of the sample reviewed contained unlawful licenses.
California recently decided to delay the revocations until March after immigrant groups sued the state, claiming that specific communities were being unfairly targeted. Duffy emphasized that the state was required to revoke those licenses by the set deadline.
Pressuring California and other states, Duffy expressed, Our demands were simple: follow the rules, revoke the unlawfully issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers, and fix the system so this never happens again. He accused California’s Governor Gavin Newsom of prioritizing the needs of illegal immigrants over public safety.
Nonetheless, Newsom’s office has not yet responded to the announcement made Wednesday afternoon. The administration has been under scrutiny after a truck driver without authorization was involved in a fatal accident earlier this year.
The federal government began cracking down throughout the summer, particularly after a significant incident prompted renewed focus on the licensing of immigrant drivers. California must act swiftly to address the compliance issues and avoid losing more funding, as it has already dropped potential penalties over earlier commitments to revoke licenses.
The trucking industry has largely welcomed these federal efforts to ensure that unqualified drivers are taken off the road, with strong backing from various trucking trade groups.
