\u201cThis federal administration is using their war on immigration to remove qualified, hardworking commercial drivers from our workforce who meet language and safety rules,\u201d DMV director Steve Gordon said in a March 6 statement. \u201cThere are no guarantees that additional solutions will become available to help these drivers and their employers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In compliance with an order from a judge in Alameda County Superior Court, the DMV says that drivers whose licenses were canceled or who surrendered them before the March 6 deadline have the \u201cright to immediately reapply for a license\u201d with the proper expiration date. The DMV notes on its website<\/a> that the agency does not \u201cknow when the DMV will be allowed to issue\u201d new commercial licenses, but will be able to issue a regular Class C license.\u00a0<\/p>\n The license cancellations are expected to cause severe hardship for commercial truckers in California, including many in the Bay Area. Some of the truckers bought or leased trucks for tens of thousands of dollars and now face repaying big loans and an uncertain future for how they will provide for themselves and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDrivers with a cancelled CDL stand to lose not only some or all of their income but also potentially their occupation if the state does not create a more permanent solution,\u201d the Asian Law Caucus, one of the organizations supporting the truckers, said in a statement<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s really uncertain\u2019 A truck driver who works in the Bay Area, with ties to Oakland, told us he received an email on Saturday, March 7, informing him that his license had been canceled. He said he worked for a local waste collection organization for years, earning about $50 an hour with medical insurance that covered his wife and children. Now, without the license, he is unable to work as a driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife works as a delivery person for food apps, but that\u2019s not a real job that is consistent,\u201d he said. \u201cNow the gas and grocery prices are going up, and it\u2019s really uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he\u2019s considering trying to find work in the restaurant industry while he\u2019s barred from trucking, but he knows that would mean earning at least 50% less.\u00a0<\/p>\n The driver said he came to the U.S. as a child and grew up in San Lorenzo, where he attended local schools and made friends, some of whom, he said, are also being affected by the licensing requirements. He told us that many people he knows have been in line at local DMVs over the last two days, requesting more information and reapplying for their licenses, even as they\u2019re told processing may remain in limbo.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know several people, some who are part of our union [the Teamsters], who are trying to figure it out right now, not working,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Oaklandside spoke to several other drivers at a local DMV on Tuesday who were also reapplying for their Class C licenses and were worried about the next few weeks without one.\u00a0<\/p>\n The driver who grew up in San Lorenzo told us that when he reapplied for his license yesterday, the DMV worker he dealt with took his current license from him because it was no longer valid.\u00a0<\/p>\n A class action suit<\/p>\n Starting November 6 of last year, the DMV notified thousands of immigrant drivers that it would cancel their commercial driver\u2019s licenses in the new year, according to the Asian Law Caucus. By December, the caucus had joined with the Sikh Coalition and the firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP to file a class action suit on behalf of the state\u2019s immigrant commercial drivers, including two school bus drivers, a tow truck driver, and a driver of tankers. Last week, the Superior Court of California in Alameda County heard arguments from both sides, and Judge Karin Schwartz ordered the DMV to allow drivers to reapply for their licenses and to provide the corrected licenses \u201cwithin a reasonable time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The state has yet to offer a timeline for reissuing licenses.<\/p>\n The federal government has, over the last few months, threatened<\/a> states with large immigrant populations, including California, saying officials must either cancel the licenses of undocumented immigrants and those with refugee status documents or face retaliation, such as barring the state from issuing new commercial drivers\u2019 licenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Truck drivers have stopped by DMV locations in California, such as the one in the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland, in the last two days to grapple with canceled licenses. Photo: Jose Fermoso for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n