California has delayed canceling thousands of commercial driver's licenses held by immigrants, preparing for another showdown with Washington.
The Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that the 17,000 migrant truck drivers whose licenses had been revoked can now keep them for 60 more days, which could allow them to retake tests and do whatever they need to do to remain legal.
“Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don't move and our communities don't stay connected without them,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement after the extension.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reacted by threatening to cut $160 million in federal funding to California if the state fails to meet a Jan. 5 deadline to revoke the licenses of unauthorized foreign truckers.
“California does NOT have an 'extension' to continue breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads,” Duffy aware in X.
It had previously withheld $40 million in federal funds from California for failing to enforce English proficiency tests for truck drivers.
California move to delay license revocation comes days after the sikh coalition and the Asian Law Caucus, filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the DMV failed to offer adequate remedies to affected drivers, refused to renew or issue new commercial driver's licenses, and violated their rights.
The 60-day extension allows drivers whose licenses were set to expire on January 5 to continue driving until March 6.
“It's a small positive step forward,” said Manpreet Kaur, vice mayor of Bakersfield, home to many immigrant truckers. “We are very relieved to see this within the community here in Bakersfield.”
Bakersfield is a hub for trucking in the Central Valley, with a large concentration of the Punjabi Sikh community that was affected by the decision to revoke licenses. Kaur said truckers have been unfairly targeted in the political fight between state policy and federal rules.
Punjabi Sikhs are a pillar of the American trucking industry. An estimated 150,000 work in the trucking sector, most of them on the West Coast.
Commercial licenses for non-U.S. drivers became a point of political tension in 2025 after an undocumented Punjabi truck driver was involved in an accident in Florida that resulted in the deaths of three people.
A federal audit found that many commercial licenses issued to immigrant drivers expired long after the length of the immigrant truckers' legal stay in the U.S.
Critics have argued that drivers should not be punished for DMV administrative errors.
“I believe that the 17,000 truck drivers will be able to take the road [commercial driver’s license] test before March,” said Matt Cartwright, a transportation and personal injury attorney and former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania. “Safe drivers will have no problem passing.”
The extension could be used to perform a more thorough evaluation, such as verifying status, confirming qualifications and documenting the process so the public can trust the outcome and ensure safety, said Tray Gober of LGR Law Firm.
Trucking trade groups once complained about a driver shortage and welcomed immigrant drivers. Now the associations claim that the shortage no longer exists due to the recession in freight transport and support the federal crackdown on foreign drivers. Some have backed the move to weed out unskilled drivers who can't read traffic signs.
A new question that could arise from the new request is whether, “by submitting to the new rules, immigrants with revoked licenses are giving up any right to sue for improper revocation,” said attorney Doug Burnetti, who has been closely following the policy changes.
“I suspect this may be fact-specific and case-by-case, but if I were representing the federal government, I would say that reapplication under the new rules waives any objection to repeal under the old rules,” Brunetti said.
On the other hand, he said, truckers would argue they had no choice but to reapply to try to get their licenses back.
“It's an interesting question that will ultimately have to be resolved by a judge,” he said.
