California’s CDL Scandal: 13,000 Licenses Canceled?!
This month the California DMV cancelled approximately 13,000 commercial driver’s licenses following public and federal pressure over non-citizens being granted CDLs in the state. Federal audits found these licenses were issued incorrectly because they lasted longer than the holder's work authorization documents, violating regulations. Opponents of the action argue that this affects real people who will lose their incomes due to not being able to operate commercial vehicles, as well as create shortages in California’s trucking industry. But the families who have lost their children to lethal accidents caused by the drivers holding these illegal licenses are begging for our Governor to step in and do something.
What is going on, which side is right, and how should we think about it? I hope to answer all of that for you today!
The CDL Drama Explained
If you have seen the news over the past several months, it is likely you have read about at least one deadly car crash. You may also have heard about some drama involving illegal immigration, commercial driver’s licenses, and federal government actions. There has been a lot said – and done – on this topic since as far back as last year, and there is a lot to unpack to understand what’s really going on. Let’s start with the event that kicked everything off – the Florida Turnpike Crash.
In August of last year, there was a shocking and tragic accident in Florida that went viral and became national news. The driver of a commercial truck attempted to make an illegal U-Turn on the highway – and the result was a minivan slammed into the truck and was wedged underneath it. Because the truck driver’s tractor-trailer had swerved across all northbound lanes, the minivan, which was just traveling in its own lane as normal, had no time to brake. All passengers in the minivan were killed, resulting in three tragic deaths due to what seemed to be obviously shocking incompetence and criminal recklessness.[1]
But the real drama came when it was reported that the driver of the commercial truck was an illegal immigrant – and not only that, but he had been issued his commercial driver’s license in (you guessed it!) California. The Department of Homeland Security reacted to the tragedy with Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin putting out the following statement:
“Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License – this state of governance is asinine. How many more innocent people must die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public?”[2]
There were also indications that this may not have been a one-off, unavoidable event. Long-time truck drivers reported, “It’s been a big problem within the last five to eight years. There’s a lot of people that cannot read or speak English, and it’s causing a lot of problems.”[3]
Then, just two months later, there was another fatal accident with a very similar fact pattern that once again sparked a federal response. In October of 2025, the driver of a commercial truck failed to stop for slowed traffic in his lane, slamming into multiple vehicles and ending in a fiery crash. Eight vehicles were involved in the crash, three people suffered injuries, and three victims were tragically killed.[4] The driver was once again an illegal immigrant, and he was once again issued his CDL by the state of California. DHS responded saying, “This tragedy follows a disturbing pattern of criminal illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles on American roads, directly threatening public safety.”[5]
Federal Government Intervention
This has not just gained national news attention, but it has also caused the federal government to intervene. After the initial crash in August, an audit was conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The report found that the state of California had issued CDLs to drivers that were valid after their federal work authorization expired.[6] It also found that there were, “systemic policy, procedural, and programming errors” in California’s commercial driver’s licensing system, specifically as it related to handling immigrant cases.[7] What is most shocking is that more than 25% of California’s non-citizen CDLs were issued unlawfully, even extending as long as four years past the expiration date of drivers’ lawful presence documentation.[8]
As a result, the U.S. Department of transportation issued an emergency update to the system to implement stricter rules. These rules stipulated that any CDL issued to a non-citizen or non-permanent resident must expire on or before the end date on their federal immigration record – so California was not allowed to issue CDLs that outlasted the timeframe individuals were legally authorized to be here. The DOT issued this rule specifically because of that 25% figure cited in the audit – meaning California issued CDLs to drivers who were ineligible, who no longer had legal status to be present in the United States, or whose license expiration dates were different from their immigration documents.[9]
This ultimately resulted not just in a temporary rule change, but in an emergency order for California to stop all issuances of CDLs to non-citizens or non-permanent residents, review existing CDLs, and revoke all licenses that didn’t meet these requirements. But, just six days after that order, the October crash happened, bringing the severity of the issue to the forefront of the conversation and leading Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued to accuse California of violating federal law.[10]
That brings us to today – because while all of that happened in the fall of last year, California still hadn’t complied with the federal order by the beginning of this month. They had a deadline originally to cancel illegally issued licenses by January 5th, the state did not comply, and the DOT withheld $160 million in funding until the state acted. So, effective this month – on Friday, March 6th – the state canceled approximately 13,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to non-citizens or non-permanent residents.[11]
The Right Thing to Do
So, all of that is how we got here. But now we’re left with a much harder question – was this the right decision on part of the federal government, and who is actually responsible for what happened?
Let’s start with what should be clear and non-controversial: a commercial driver’s license is a safety certification, and there are reasons why they are required to operate large vehicles. These vehicles can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and yet they are traveling at highway speeds alongside everyday drivers. That means there is a great burden and responsibility on the issuers of the licenses to ensure that the people operating these vehicles are properly vetted, properly documented, and fully compliant with the law. When the government certifies someone to operate a commercial vehicle, that certification must mean something – if you just issue licenses freely and out of compliance with federal regulations, which is what California did, then it no longer means anything, it’s just a formality. But the consequences of the disregard for federal law are real, and in these cases, they were devastating.
But you are probably wondering: why does immigration status have anything to do with a commercial driver’s license? Does it really matter that California was issuing these licenses – if someone can drive, they can drive…right?
Wrong. The reason federal law ties commercial licenses to immigration documentation isn’t about where someone is from, but it’s about whether the government can reliably verify who someone is, how long they’re authorized to be here, and whether that information can be tracked and enforced over time. When a license extends beyond someone’s authorized stay, it creates a gap where the state has issued a valid credential without a clear legal framework for monitoring or enforcing it. Federal regulations are built on consistent standards that must apply to everyone – but in California, they did not apply to everyone equally, and that reveals a much greater issue at play.
California consistently passes laws and enforces policies that prioritize illegal immigrants over its own citizens. We have covered so many laws in past episodes about our state doing that, and this is just another example. California passed Assembly Bill 60 all the way back in 2013 which amended the law to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain standard driver’s licenses without proof of legal residency.[12] Why? At the time, legislators made the argument that if illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway, then it is safer for everyone if all drivers are licensed and insured. But this takes the priority off enforcing laws for the safety and order of society and instead places it on making sure that people who are breaking the law – because yes, you are breaking the law if you are not seeking legal status in the United States – are able to continue operating as they please.
What if instead of throwing up our hands and resigning ourselves to the fact that there will be people driving illegally on the roads, we focused on enforcing the law for the sake of truly protecting the people who are living by the rules and who are under the state’s jurisdiction to safeguard?
And this matters because when loosen the safeguards to shirk one guardrail, you don’t stop there. California hasn’t stopped at standard driver’s licenses but has gone on to issue commercial driver’s licenses as well. The key issue is not just that some drivers on the road may have legal status in California – that is wrong because we should not incentivize, reward, or allow illegal immigration – but that alone is not the issue. The issue is the downward slope our state has then taken to accommodate these drivers, with disregard for the people who may be put in harm’s way as a result.
In 2016, the Obama Administration demonstrated this perfectly by getting rid of the English language proficiency requirement for drivers applying for commercial driver’s licenses. While it remained part of federal regulation, the language changed the consequences so that drivers who could not exemplify adequate English language skills could receive a citation, but they would not be prohibited from obtaining their CDL or from working. This went back on 80 years of federal precedent, as the original law – issued in 1937 – requires that drivers must be able to read and speak English sufficient to read road signs and converse with people.[13]
As a result of this policy shift, illegal immigrants have been able to obtain CDLs without passing a driver’s test in English, driving schools have advertised and tested in different languages, and unqualified drivers have been placed behind the wheels of heavy-duty, dangerous commercial trucks. According to experienced commercial drivers, much of the influx in the industry since has consisted of drivers “who cannot read road signs, cannot communicate with law enforcement, and cannot understand the safety placards on the loads they are hauling.”[14]
And so, the broader implication is not just that someone in the United States without legal status couldn’t drive safely – but that when the state, or the federal government as we saw under Obama, begin to bend the rules, they rarely stop. Because they reveal the true priority. It is not outlandish to ask all drivers to speak English – you must be able to read the signs on the road and understand what law enforcement is saying to you, that is a basic requirement to operate a vehicle safely. But it is also not outlandish to refuse to issue licenses to illegal immigrants – as the rules must apply equally across the board to each person, and our government should never reward, or at the very least make it easy, for someone to break the law. Instead, every person should be encouraged and required to pursue legal pathways to living and working in our country and understand that from there they will have the same privileges and opportunities as everyone else abiding by the law as well.
The Trump Administration has been taking action from the federal level to strengthen CDL requirements and return them to what they once were – and the Department of Transportation’s requirement for California to revoke these licenses is just one piece of that. So, to the question of was this the right decision, I would say emphatically, yes!
How to Think About This
There are mixed public responses to everything happening. On one hand, conservatives generally support what President Trump and his administration is doing, and who love to hate on California, and so they are supportive of what is going on. On the other hand, there are also people who hate President Trump no matter what he does, and who wouldn’t have us enforce any type of immigration law.
Then, outside of either extreme, there are some other, seemingly genuine concerns being cited – the main one being the fact that there are hardworking people who are losing their commercial licenses, and along with it their ability to work and support themselves and their families. I don’t want to pass over that, I want to address that outright – because it addresses the heart of the immigration issue.
Immigration is messy. I will be the first to admit that – because my husband is a first-generation immigrant, and I am so thankful he is here in the United States! Sometimes the process to gain status in the United States is straightforward and easy, other times it is complex and shrouded in fear. I don’t think we have to deny the fact that a lot of people come to the United States for a better life, and that people often flee some pretty terrible and dire situations to do so. Some immigrants are genuinely good people – they contribute to society, they love their families, they serve their church communities, and they love America. Some immigrants are genuinely bad people – they have criminal records in other countries, they want to exploit our social welfare programs, and they hate America. Every immigration policy passed in our country and in our state will somehow affect both groups of people – because both groups exist.
Now, some would argue that because there are hardworking immigrants without legal status, that we should protect them. That if we pass laws based on immigration status alone, that is unfair, because that will apply as equally to an illegal immigrant with a criminal record as it will to a loving father who fled violence in his home country. But the problem with that thinking is a fundamental misunderstanding of laws and of government. Laws must apply equally; policy cannot be customized to every person’s unique circumstances. That’s because the role of government is to restrain evil and promote what is good – which means it has to consider the greater good over the individual situation.
Public policy cannot address each person’s intention, heart, hopes, and dreams. Laws are black and white, they dictate right or wrong, and they are written to be followed. Laws promote order, they prevent chaos, and they uphold principles that keep individuals safe. They are written to govern the many, not to consider the few.
This is the case with CDL requirements. Are there some drivers who hold CDLs who do not have legal status here – who would never drink and drive, who speak English proficiently, and who drive carefully on the roads? Yes. Does that mean that we should then assume every undocumented driver is this way? No, we can’t.
What this does mean is that we should absolutely advocate for good people, who love America and who want to positively contribute to her, to obtain legal status here! There can and should be reform to make that a more attainable process. But it does not mean that we should bend – or break – laws because we think we know better. That leads to anarchy, to everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, and America cannot function under that kind of model.
So, there is a lot of back and forth between our state and the federal government on this issue, and I expect there will be more in coming months! Will some hardworking people lose their licenses? Unfortunately, yes. But what we’ve seen is that the government must prioritize its citizens, and it must pass policy rooted in truth and in the best outcomes for the most people. The government must uphold the rule of law!
Because when laws are enforced consistently in the first place, then you don’t end up in the situation California is in today – you prevent problems and their tragic consequences in the first place.
References:
[1] Bente, Katie. “Inside the Semi: New Video Shows Illegal U-Turn That Killed 3 on Florida Turnpike.” CBS 12 News, August 19, 2025. https://cbs12.com/news/local/inside-the-semi-new-video-shows-illegal-u-turn-that-killed-3-on-turnpike-in-fort-pierce.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Deliso, Meredith. “Truck Driver in Country Illegally Was Under Influence of Drugs in Calif. Crash That Killed 3: Police.” ABC7 San Francisco, October 25, 2025. https://abc7news.com/post/jashanpreet-singh-truck-driver-ontario-crash-10-freeway-killed-3-was-influence-drugs-police/18066239/.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Baehr, Jasmine, and Christina Shaw. “Illegal Immigrant Truck Driver in Fatal California Crash Should Never Have Had License: DOT Report.” Fox News, October 24, 2025. https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-truck-driver-fatal-california-crash-never-license-dot-report.
[7] Ibid.
[8] U.S. Department of Transportation. “Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to Gavin Newsom on Illegal Trucking Licenses: Time’s Up,” January 7, 2026. https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-gavin-newsom-illegal-trucking-licenses.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] State of California Department of Motor Vehicles. “Federal Government Requires California DMV to Cancel Certain Non-Domiciled Driver’s Licenses - California DMV.” California DMV, March 10, 2026. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/news-and-media/federal-government-requires-california-dmv-to-cancel-certain-nondomiciled-drivers-licenses/.
[12] Bente, “Inside the Semi: New Video Shows Illegal U-Turn That Killed 3 on Florida Turnpike.”
[13] Thomas, Philip. “Internal Agency Enforcement Policy.” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation, May 20, 2025. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/2025-05/FMCSA%20ELP%20Guidance%20with%20Attachments%20Final%20%285-20-2025%29_Redacted.pdf.
[14] Republican Study Committee. “House Republicans Are Closing Deadly CDL Loophole Before Another American Family Pays the Price | Republican Study Committee,” March 19, 2026. https://rsc-pfluger.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-republicans-are-closing-deadly-cdl-loophole-another-american-family-pays.
