California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell is vowing to yank driver’s licenses from deportation officers after the state unlawfully issued thousands of commercial licenses to foreign truckers.
Swalwell, a candidate for the California Democratic gubernatorial nomination, pledged on Saturday to pull driver’s licenses from any Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent that wears a mask if elected to the state’s highest office. The threats follow the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) decision to pull millions in federal funding from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for not revoking 117,000 illegally issued Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to illegal migrants and other foreign drivers, many of whom failed to demonstrate basic English proficiency before hitting U.S. highways.
“If you harm a single Californian, hire the best lawyer you can afford, because I will bring you to justice,” Swalwell said during a summit hosted by the Empowerment Congress in Los Angeles. “I will use every power in the state to bring you to justice.”
“I will take your driver’s license away if you operate in our state with a mask and unidentified,” he continued.
Swalwell’s comments follow several high-profile deadly accidents allegedly caused by illegal migrant truck drivers, many of whom obtained their CDLs in California.
Harjinder Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Kamalpreet Singh have been accused of causing fatal crashes on American highways in recent months. All of these individuals are illegal migrants from India and all of them obtained a non-domiciled CDL in California before being accused of causing severe roadway accidents.
In August 2025, Harjinder was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after allegedly making an illegal U-turn along a Florida highway, resulting in the death of three people. That accident became the first of several high-profile crashes by illegal migrant drivers.
Federal investigators later discovered that Harjinder, like other illegal migrant truckers, had incredibly poor knowledge of both the English language and American road signs. The Indian national could only provide two correct answers out of a 12-question verbal English Language Proficiency test and he could only identify one of four highway traffic signs, according to federal officials.
An ongoing DOT investigation has since revealed a “catastrophic pattern” of states illegally issuing non-domiciled CDLs to foreign nationals, with California purportedly being the worst offender. The nationwide audit found that over 25% of non-domiciled CDLs issued in California were done so unlawfully, including licenses that extended years past the expiration date of migrants’ lawful presence documentation.
California DMV officials and federal officials had originally agreed on a Jan. 5 deadline to revoke these unlawfully-issued licenses. However, the Golden State extended this deadline to March 6 in response to a class-action lawsuit, prompting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to officially pull $160 million in federal funding from the California DMV on Jan. 7.
“Rep. Eric Swalwell’s vowing to strip ICE law enforcement officers of their driver’s licenses for wearing masks is disgusting,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Our officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers. Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.”
“The men and women at CBP, ICE, and all of our federal law enforcement agencies put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens.,” McLaughlin continued. “Make no mistake, this type of demonization is contributing to the surge in assaults of law enforcement officers.”
California lawmakers passed legislation in September banning most law enforcement officials — including ICE and other federal immigration agents — from wearing face masks during operations. However, the Department of Homeland Security has made clear it won’t be adhering to the new state law, arguing that state and local officials cannot regulate the conduct of federal law enforcement.
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