California’s got a massive licensing mess on its hands, pulling the rug out from under 17,000 commercial drivers after officials realized something was off: those shiny plastic cards outlasted their holders’ legal right to stay in the U.S. The review followed concerns raised by the Trump administration, though Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office maintains the action is tied to compliance issues uncovered within state records rather than federal pressure.
Here’s the kicker: state bean-counters dug through DMV files and spotted the glaring glitch. Licenses stamped with expiration dates stretching way beyond immigration paperwork. Oof. Feds had already been breathing down their necks after a string of horrific wrecks—some fatal—involving truckers without legal status, from Florida to Texas, even right here in Cali. Transport bigwig Sean Duffy went full throttle, slapping states with audits and cranking up rules for noncitizen applicants.
Now Duffy’s crowing like a rooster at dawn, claiming California’s mass ax-job proves his paranoia was spot-on. He’s been squawking for ages about states handing out commercial licenses like candy to folks who shouldn’t qualify. Golden State just happened to finish its audit first, making it the feds’ punching bag while other states twiddled thumbs during shutdown chaos.
And oh, the feds aren’t playing nice. They already yanked $40 million from California’s coffers over alleged English-rule flubs. Duffy’s dangling another $160 million over their heads if they don’t ditch every noncompliant license yesterday. State suits swear they’re toeing the line now, but Newsom’s team fires back—every single driver had legit federal work papers when they got licensed.
Here’s the bitter pill: come September, new federal rules slammed the door shut for most immigrants eyeing commercial licenses. Only a sliver of visa holders can squeak through now. The silver lining? Nearly 200,000 current noncitizen drivers nationwide get to keep their gigs—for now. But those 17,000 in California? They’ve got 60 days until the clock runs out. Game over.