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.
The DOT investigation began in response to a string of deadly highway accidents involving illegal migrant truck drivers who managed to obtain non-domiciled CDLs, with one failing basic English and road sign tests after their grisly crash. Duffy issued sweeping restrictions against commercial drivers in September after discovering “catastrophic patterns” of state officials illegally handing out licenses to foreign truckers, but those orders have been paused while a legal challenge plays out in court.
An ongoing audit by the FMCSA has purportedly uncovered a pattern by state officials doling out licenses unlawfully to foreign drivers, with Duffy long calling out California as the most egregious of them all. More than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed in the audit were deemed to be improperly issued by California, according to DOT findings released in September.
“California’s reckless disregard is frankly disgusting and an affront to the millions of Americans who expect us to keep them safe,” Duffy said at the time. “California must get its act together immediately or I will not hesitate to pull millions in funding.”
The DOT announced in October that it was withholding more than $40 million from California after finding that state officials failed to comply with federal English Language Proficiency standards. The California Highway Patrol had previously declared that it had no intention of adhering to the English language regulations, according to the DOT.
The Trump administration is threatening to pull an additional $160 million in federal funds from the Golden State unless it revokes all illegal non-domiciled CDLs.
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