More than 17,000 California commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants have been revoked, as the state speeds up to comply with new federal rules that driver’s licenses can’t be valid for those no longer legally allowed to be in the US.
One of President Trump’s latest crusades against immigrants was prompted by an August crash in Florida where an immigrant driving a commercial semi truck made an illegal u-turn and caused a crash that killed three people. Federal prosecutors allege that driver had entered the US illegally, though was still granted commercial driver’s licenses in the states of California and Washington.
This has led to something of a Trump administration crackdown. And California just complied with some of the new rules that came out of this crackdown, as the Associated Press reports that the state of California has just revoked 17,0000 immigrants’ commercial driver’s licenses.
The state is coming into compliance with a new law that driver’s licenses should expire once an immigrant's legal status in the US has expired. So the Gavin Newsom administration did follow the Trump directives, but the Trump administration still seems determined to tar and feather Newsom over this one.
"After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we've exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement to the AP. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses."
Of course, California is the only state that has been audited in this regard, though other states audits were started but delayed by the government shutdown. The Trump administration has threatened to yank about $200 million in total funding to the state if it does not comply.
Those drivers whose licenses have been revoked received a notice that their license would expire within 60 days.
Image: SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 18: Traffic at the 5 Freeway on October 18, 2025 in San Clemente, California. A 17-mile stretch of the 5 Freeway was temporarily closed on Saturday due to a live-ammunition demonstration at Camp Pendleton, held in celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps' 250th anniversary. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
