The US Department of Transportation (DOT) stated on November 12 that California has revoked 17,000 illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses. This action was carried out in accordance with the order issued by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy several weeks ago.
According to the DOT announcement, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had illegally issued 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) to “dangerous foreign drivers,” and is currently working on revoking them.
Duffy stated that this revocation action is just the tip of the iceberg, emphasizing that his team will continue to demand California prove that all illegal immigrants have been banned from driving semi-trailer trucks and school buses.
The DOT press release indicated that the 17,000 license holders have been notified that their licenses will expire within 60 days. The department also stated that California officials were “caught red-handed.”
Duffy also reiterated that if California does not revoke all commercial driver’s licenses issued in violation of federal regulations, the federal government will withhold $160 million in funding from California.
Last month, the DOT announced the temporary suspension of a $40 million allocation to California, citing allegations that California violated DOT’s English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements when issuing commercial licenses.
As early as August, Duffy pointed out that California, Washington, and New Mexico would lose federal funding due to a fatal accident in Florida. The truck driver involved did not speak English, obtained a Nondomiciled CDL from California, and an official CDL from Washington.
The DOT stated that New Mexico law enforcement had issued a speeding ticket to the driver but did not conduct an English proficiency test.
The accident occurred on a highway about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, where truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn, causing a small van to collide with his trailer, resulting in three deaths. Singh and his passengers were unharmed.
In September, Singh denied three counts of vehicular manslaughter and immigration violations. His lawyer had not responded to media requests for comments beforehand.
The Epoch Times contacted Governor Gavin Newsom’s office on Wednesday regarding the matter. The California government had not publicly responded to the DOT’s November 12 announcement at the time of publication.
In response to critique from Duffy regarding California issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants, Newsom’s office replied on social media platform X last month, stating that “the rate of commercial driver’s license holders in California involved in fatal crashes is nearly 40% lower than the national average.”
The post mentioned: “California does require an English proficiency test, which must be passed to obtain a CDL, you can check the relevant regulations yourself.”
Duffy, in an interview with Fox News in September, mentioned that California was illegally issuing commercial driver’s licenses to tens of thousands of non-citizens. He said, “There are currently 60,000 people driving on the roads who shouldn’t have licenses. They are driving tanker trucks, school buses, and we have already seen some traffic accidents caused by these individuals.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X platform on August 21 that the department would suspend issuing new work visas to commercial truck drivers. He pointed out, “More and more foreign drivers are driving large trucks on US highways, which is threatening the safety of Americans and harming the livelihoods of domestic truck drivers.”