• California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses given to immigrants.
• The licenses were issued improperly according to state laws regarding legal status expiration.
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claims this reveals California's licensing failures.
• New regulations will make it harder for immigrants to obtain commercial licenses.
• California's officials state that all affected drivers had valid work authorizations.

California is moving to revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses issued to immigrants after finding that their expiration dates went beyond the legally allowed timeframe for their residency. This decision comes in the wake of heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration, which criticized states for granting licenses to individuals in the country illegally, particularly following a deadly crash in Florida involving an undocumented immigrant. Governor Gavin Newsom stated that the revocation aligns with the state's compliance efforts, countering claims that these licenses were issued improperly, according to Indiatimes and NPR.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy emphasized that California's decision to revoke the licenses represents an acknowledgment that the state had "illegally issued" these permits to "dangerous foreign drivers." In his statements, Duffy referenced previous fatal accidents linked to illegal immigrant drivers, asserting that this situation was only "the tip of the iceberg." The state launched a review of commercial licenses after Duffy raised concerns, indicating that California was the first state where auditing had been completed, as reported by BBC and NPR.

California officials revealed that the licenses in question violated state law by not expiring in line with the legal status of the drivers. Specifically, they were required to expire on or before a person's legal status ends. Despite this, Newsom’s office contended that each individual whose license is being revoked held valid work authorizations from the federal government, further fueling the political friction between state and federal officials, particularly Duffy, who accused the state of failing to enforce existing regulations, according to BBC and Indiatimes.

In September, shortly after the announcement of the license revocations, Duffy introduced new regulations that will limit eligibility for commercial driver’s licenses to only specific classes of visa holders, namely H-2a, H-2b, and E-2 visa holders. Under these new rules, which will require verification of applicants' immigration status in a federal database, the number of noncitizens eligible to hold commercial licenses is expected to drop dramatically, with only about 10,000 out of 200,000 potentially qualifying. However, these rules will not be enforced retroactively, allowing many to retain their licenses until renewal, as noted by NPR and BBC.

The continuing tension over driver's licensing for immigrants reflects broader political divides, with critics arguing that the new requirements exacerbate barriers for immigrant workers in vital industries. Moreover, the federal Transportation Department warned of potential repercussions, including financial penalties, if California fails to comply completely with the newly imposed licensing standards, according to Indiatimes and BBC.