A battle is brewing in California over whether the state will comply with a Jan. 5 deadline to revoke 17,000 non-domiciled commercial drivers’ licenses issued to illegal immigrant truckers.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced last week that it would delay canceling the CDLs after a group of truckers filed a class-action lawsuit on Dec. 23.
But the federal government has pushed back and said the Golden State cannot ignore the deadline.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the sue-happy sanctuary state led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration has filed nearly 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration, will lose $160 million if it misses Jan. 5 deadline.
The California DMV postponed the action by 60 days, after the agency agreed in November to cancel the licenses due to administrative errors and mounting pressure from the Trump administration.
The state is delaying the cancellations until March “to give officials more time to resolve the concerns of federal authorities,” according to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
An audit found that the California DMV issued more than 17,000 CDLs to immigrants with expiration dates that went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S. Other problems included instances where the state failed to prove it had checked a driver’s immigration status, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
Duffy responded on social media, saying the deadline remains Jan. 5.
Gavin Newsom is lying. The deadline to revoke illegally issued, unvetted foreign trucker licenses is still January 5.
California does NOT have an “extension” to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads.
Miss the deadline, Gavin, and the @USDOT will act —…
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 31, 2025
“Gavin Newsom is lying. The deadline to revoke illegally issued, unvetted foreign trucker licenses is still January 5. California does NOT have an ‘extension’ to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads. Miss the deadline, Gavin, and the @USDOT will act — including cutting nearly $160 million in federal funding.”
Earlier this year, Duffy’s DOT issued emergency rules that make it harder for illegal immigrants to obtain a non-domiciled CDL driver’s license following several deadly crashes on American highways at the hands of illegal alien truck drivers. Those new rules also are being challenged in court.
Duffy has targeted the sanctuary states that issue CDLs to immigrants and the sanctuary politicians that defend allowing unqualified drivers to operate 18-wheelers.
The administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from states that don’t comply with new English language proficiency requirements for truck drivers.
The sanctuary state of California refused to comply with the Trump administration’s updated requirement.
FOX 11 reported Duffy has already withheld $40 million in funding from California, citing a failure to enforce English proficiency requirements. In November, the state agreed to revoke the licenses to avoid further financial penalties, but this new delay pauses that process.
The California DMV moved to cancel the 17,000 CDLs following an audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The investigation found the California DMV improperly issued the licenses with expiration dates beyond drivers’ work authorizations.
State officials are currently working to implement reforms that satisfy the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which has blocked the state from issuing new commercial driver’s licenses until requirements are met
But Newsom has passed the blame to the feds and accused Duffy of “federal mismanagement” in a tweet of his own.
“YOUR staff told CA DMV they were open to an extension 8 days ago,” the Governor Newsom Press Office account shared on X. “In fact, FMCSA agreed an extension made logistical sense and was reasonable (in a meeting on Dec. 18),” he wrote. “DMV relied on that guidance and acted accordingly.”
Sean, facts matter. YOUR staff told CA DMV they were open to an extension 8 days ago. In fact, FMCSA agreed an extension made logistical sense and was reasonable (in a meeting on Dec. 18)! DMV relied on that guidance and acted accordingly.
Only after the plan became public did… https://t.co/mTV1l9iHRc
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) December 31, 2025
On Nov. 6, the California DMV notified 17,299 immigrant drivers and business owners that their non-domiciled CDLs would be canceled on Jan. 5 due to an error with the expiration date of the licenses. A similar letter was sent to additional 2,700 drivers in December, informing them their licenses would be canceled in mid-February.
On Dec. 23, two civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the truckers to stop the state from revoking the CDLs of 21,000 immigrant truckers.
The Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, along with the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, argued the cancellations would “result in mass work stoppages” immediately upon the deadline.
The plaintiffs contend that canceling the licenses is unlawful. They argue that immigrant drivers are being unfairly targeted, and revoking the licenses will deprive them of their rights and livelihoods. The lawyers have asked the court to grant a stay, which would pause the license cancellations while the lawsuit proceeds.
California seems to be making up its own rules and ignoring the original deadline it set with the Trump administration. DMV Director Steve Gordon said supply chains will stop moving if the state does not “promptly resume issuance of nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses.”
“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 in a statement. “We are hopeful that our collaboration with the federal government will give [the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] confidence in our updated processes to allow California to promptly resume issuance of nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses.”
Illegal immigrants who were previously issued commercial driver’s licenses will now have an additional two months to reapply for the document and retake their exams.
Mumeeth Kaur, the legal director of the Sikh Coalition, called the delay “an important step towards alleviating the immediate threat that these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods,” FOX 11 reported.
In May, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implemented new guidance to enforce the English language proficiency requirement for truck drivers as part of a broader federal effort to ensure they can read and follow road signs.
Since August, there have been at least six high-profile pileups or fatalities involving illegal migrant truck drivers that have killed 11 people in Florida, California, Indiana, Tennessee, Oregon and Washington state.
In some cases, the semi-truck drivers were driving under the influence or distracted and slammed into stopped vehicles. In other cases, they could not speak English or read basic road signs. Several of the immigrants crossed the border and obtained work authorization under the Biden administration.
