California Unlawfully Issued 17,000 Licenses To Migrant Truck Drivers, Feds Say

California illegally doled out thousands of commercial licenses to “dangerous” foreign truck drivers, according to an investigation by federal officials.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles admitted to unlawfully issuing 17,000 non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to migrant drivers, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Wednesday. The revelations follow an ongoing investigation by the Trump administration into deadly highway accidents involving illegal migrant truck drivers and how they managed to obtain CDLs.

“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed,” Duffy said in a public statement shared with the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation. “Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked.”

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Duffy continued. “My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”

Notices have been sent out to the roughly 17,000 non-domiciled CDL holders that their licenses no longer meet federal standards and will expire within two months, according to DOT. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is requiring California to provide a full audit of its non-domiciled CDLs so federal investigators can verify that every unlawfully issued license has been pulled.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Motor Vehicles did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

State officials issue non-domiciled CDLs to individuals who are not residents of that state, which usually applies to foreign nationals. The term can generally describe any person who isn’t an American citizen or green card holder who obtains a CDL in a state where they are not a resident.