Migrant truckers sue California DMV over canceled commercial drivers' licenses

The California DMV is facing a suit brought connected behalf of astir 20,000 migrant truckers implicit the state's plans to revoke their commercialized drivers' licenses (CDLs).

The Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, on with the instrumentality steadfast Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed the suit connected Tuesday successful an effort to halt the California DMV from canceling the CDLs, which thecomplaint says would "result successful wide enactment stoppages" starting Jan 5, 2026.

"This class-action suit is brought connected behalf of the Jakara Movement and 5 commercialized drivers who person been deprived of their rights and livelihoods," a associated connection from the Asian Law Caucus and Sikh Coalition said. "According to reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED, California authorities officials communicated they would statesman reissuing licenses connected December 17. Despite these nationalist assurances, the authorities has neither reissued immoderate of the contested licenses nor created a process to remedy the day contented with nary denotation that it plans to bash truthful earlier January 5."

The suit alleges that connected Nov. 6, the California DMV notified 17,299 migrant drivers and concern owners that their non-domiciled CDLs would beryllium canceled connected Jan. 5, 2026, owed to an mistake with the expiration day of the licenses. A akin missive was sent to an further 2,700 drivers successful December, informing them that their licenses would beryllium canceled successful mid-February.

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A motortruck departs from a Port of Oakland shipping terminal connected Nov. 10, 2021, successful Oakland, Calif.  (Noah Berger, File/AP Photo)

The DMV is required to acceptable the expiration day for a CDL fixed to an migrant connected either the aforesaid time oregon earlier the expiration of the driver's enactment authorization oregon ineligible beingness documents, according to the lawsuit. However, the suit alleges that the DMV letters violated California procedure, which would necessitate the section to either cancel the licence without prejudice oregon alteration the expiration date.

"For each 19,999 immigrants, the DMV intends to cancel their commercialized licenses without affording immoderate accidental to get a corrected licence oregon to contention the cancellation," the suit reads.

The filing further states that "despite its ain regulation, the DMV did not consistently guarantee that a CDL’s expiration day matched the extremity of a person’s play of enactment authorization oregon lawful presence."

People locomotion done the rainfall astatine the Arleta DMV successful Arleta connected Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/The Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

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In November, aft a heated backmost and distant betwixt the national authorities and California, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that the Golden State was readying to revoke 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's bureau pushed backmost connected the DOT's assertion that his authorities "admitted to illegally issuing" the licenses. However, according to the lawsuit, notices were sent to much than the reported 17,000 drivers.

The suit notes that the cancellation of the CDLs has a far-reaching interaction beyond the drivers themselves, saying that the drivers "play an indispensable relation successful our section and nationalist economies, providing indispensable services that communities trust connected each day, including transporting food, driving children to schoolhouse and delivering manufactured goods."

"The abrupt nonaccomplishment of their quality to enactment threatens not lone their livelihoods but besides the stableness of our proviso chains and services connected which the nationalist depends. Neither the individuals nor our communities tin prolong the harm that volition hap if these drivers suffer their licenses, careers, and economical stability," the suit reads.

California is moving to revoke 17,000 commercialized driver's licenses aft unit from the Trump administration. (Fred Greaves/Reuters; Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters)

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The suit describes immoderate of the plaintiffs' experiences aft receiving the November letter. In 1 instance, a plaintiff identified arsenic John Doe 4 allegedly received the missive contempt the information that his CDL expires connected the aforesaid time arsenic his enactment authorization, the precise papers helium supposedly utilized to renew the license. The suit claims that determination are recipients of cancellation letters whose CDLs are seemingly successful compliance.

In different instance, a subordinate of Jakara Movement — which describes itself arsenic a "grassroots community-building enactment moving to empower, educate, and signifier working-class Punjabi Sikhs, and different marginalized communities" — attempted to code his concerns astir the cancellation by going to a DMV bureau successful person. The suit claims that erstwhile the Jakara subordinate arrived astatine the DMV office, helium was "pressured into surrendering his CDL, retired of fearfulness that his non-commercial driver’s licence would already beryllium cancelled."

Further, the suit claims that the "DMV has not explained however it identified 19,999 licenses arsenic retired of compliance with authorities instrumentality and however it tin guarantee that its determinations are accurate."

In an aerial view, trucks thrust connected Interstate 80 connected Nov. 14, 2025, successful Albany, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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The suit is calling connected the justice to contented a writ of mandate, preliminary injunction oregon imperishable injunction that would necessitate the California DMV to guarantee that the plaintiffs and those that autumn nether the people enactment are capable to get a corrected CDL "without interruption to their driving privileges."

The Trump medication launched a crackdown connected the CDL issuing process arsenic portion of its efforts to tackle amerciable immigration. The determination came aft a bid of fatal crashes involving non-domiciled CDL holders.

The California DMV and Newsom's bureau did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.