California revokes 17,000 commercial drivers licenses for immigrants

California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants after the Trump administration raised concerns about people in the country illegally obtaining licenses to drive trucks or buses. But Gov. Gavin Newsom said that wasn’t the reason.

Newsom said the cancellations were due to violations of state law but did not provide details.

Both the Democratic governor’s office and the Republican Trump Administration’s Transportation Department agreed that those licenses violated the existing standard that was in place before Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently tightened the rules following a nationwide commercial driver’s license enforcement launched after a driver illegally made a U-turn and caused a crash in Florida. killing three people.

Fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year also highlight questions about these licenses. A. fiery California crash Last month, an illegal immigrant truck driver killed three more people, further increasing concerns.

California state transportation officials did not immediately respond to questions seeking more details about why those licenses were revoked.

Duffy said Wednesday that California’s action to revoke those licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly, even though the state had previously defended its licensing standards. California began reviewing state-issued commercial driver’s licenses after Duffy voiced his concerns.

Previously Duffy introduced new restrictions immigrants can qualify for one of these commercial driver’s licenses. He said earlier this fall that California and five other states were improperly issuing commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens, but that California was the only state Duffy sued because it was the first state where the audit was completed. Inspections in other states have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the Department of Transportation is urging everyone to tighten their standards.

duffy canceled $40 million in federal funding as California says it does not implement English language requirements for truckers and reiterated Wednesday that he will receive another $160 million from the state on these improperly issued licenses if they do not invalidate all illegal licenses and address all concerns. However, canceling these licenses is part of the state’s harmonization efforts.

″Gavin Newsom and California, who claimed for weeks that they had done nothing wrong, were caught red-handed. “Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued truck licenses are being revoked,” Duffy said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. “My team will continue to push California to prove that they have removed all illegal immigrants from behind the wheels of semi-trucks and school buses.”

Newsom’s office said each of the drivers whose licenses were revoked had valid work permits from the federal government.

“Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy once again fails to share the truth, spreading easily disproven lies in a sad and desperate attempt to please his beloved leader,” Newsom spokesman Brandon Richards said.

New rules on commercial driver’s licenses that Duffy announced in September make it extremely difficult for immigrants to obtain a commercial driver’s license because only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible. States will also have to verify the applicant’s immigration status against a federal database. These licenses will be valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires earlier.

Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens with commercial licenses will qualify for those licenses, and that will only apply to drivers with H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visas. H-2a is for temporary agricultural workers, H-2B is for temporary non-agricultural workers, and E-2 is for individuals who have made significant investments in a business in the United States. But the rules won’t be applied retroactively, so those 190,000 drivers will be allowed to keep their commercial driver’s licenses at least until it’s time to renew them.

These new requirements did not exist at the time these 17,000 licenses were issued. However, these drivers were notified that their licenses would expire within 60 days.

In September, inspectors found that a quarter of the 145 licenses they reviewed in California should not have been issued, Duffy said. He cited four California driver’s licenses that remain valid after the driver’s work permit has expired (sometimes years later).

Newsom’s office said the state is following guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on issuing these licenses to noncitizens.

Associated Press writer Sophie Austin contributed to this report from Sacramento, California.