Migrant truckers sue California DMV over canceled commercial drivers' licenses

The California DMV is facing a lawsuit brought on behalf of nearly 20,000 immigrant truckers over the state's plans to revoke their commercial drivers' licenses (CDLs).

The Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, along with the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in an effort to stop the California DMV from canceling the CDLs, which thecomplaint says would "result in mass work stoppages" starting Jan 5, 2026.

"This class-action lawsuit is brought on behalf of the Jakara Movement and five commercial drivers who have been deprived of their rights and livelihoods," a joint statement from the Asian Law Caucus and Sikh Coalition said. "According to reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED, California state officials communicated they would begin reissuing licenses on December 17. Despite these public assurances, the state has neither reissued any of the contested licenses nor created a process to remedy the date issue with no indication that it plans to do so before January 5."

The lawsuit alleges that on Nov. 6, the California DMV notified 17,299 immigrant drivers and business owners that their non-domiciled CDLs would be canceled on Jan. 5, 2026, due to an error with the expiration date of the licenses. A similar letter was sent to an additional 2,700 drivers in December, informing them that their licenses would be canceled in mid-February.

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The DMV is required to set the expiration date for a CDL given to an immigrant on either the same day or before the expiration of the driver's work authorization or legal presence documents, according to the lawsuit. However, the lawsuit alleges that the DMV letters violated California procedure, which would require the department to either cancel the license without prejudice or change the expiration date.

"For all 19,999 immigrants, the DMV intends to cancel their commercial licenses without affording any opportunity to obtain a corrected license or to contest the cancellation," the lawsuit reads.

The filing further states that "despite its own regulation, the DMV did not consistently ensure that a CDL's expiration date matched the end of a person's period of work authorization or lawful presence."

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In November, after a heated back and forth between the federal government and California, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that the Golden State was planning to revoke 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office pushed back on the DOT's assertion that his state "admitted to illegally issuing" the licenses. However, according to the lawsuit, notices were sent to more than the reported 17,000 drivers.

The lawsuit notes that the cancellation of the CDLs has a far-reaching impact beyond the drivers themselves, saying that the drivers "play an indispensable role in our local and national economies, providing essential services that communities rely on every day, including transporting food, driving children to school and delivering manufactured goods."

"The sudden loss of their ability to work threatens not only their livelihoods but also the stability of our supply chains and services on which the public depends. Neither the individuals nor our communities can sustain the harm that will occur if these drivers lose their licenses, careers, and economic stability," the lawsuit reads.

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The lawsuit describes some of the plaintiffs' experiences after receiving the November letter. In one instance, a plaintiff identified as John Doe 4 allegedly received the letter despite the fact that his CDL expires on the same day as his work authorization, the very document he supposedly used to renew the license. The lawsuit claims that there are recipients of cancellation letters whose CDLs are seemingly in compliance.

In another instance, a member of Jakara Movement - which describes itself as a "grassroots community-building organization working to empower, educate, and organize working-class Punjabi Sikhs, and other marginalized communities" - attempted to address his concerns about the cancellation by going to a DMV office in person. The lawsuit claims that when the Jakara member arrived at the DMV office, he was "pressured into surrendering his CDL, out of fear that his non-commercial driver's license would already be cancelled."

Further, the lawsuit claims that the "DMV has not explained how it identified 19,999 licenses as out of compliance with state law and how it can ensure that its determinations are accurate."

The lawsuit is calling on the judge to issue a writ of mandate, preliminary injunction or permanent injunction that would require the California DMV to ensure that the plaintiffs and those that fall under the class action are able to obtain a corrected CDL "without interruption to their driving privileges."

The Trump administration launched a crackdown on the CDL issuing process as part of its efforts to tackle illegal immigration. The move came after a series of fatal crashes involving non-domiciled CDL holders.

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