Jan.6 Deadline: Trucking Industry Under Pressure, Thousands Of CA Truck Drivers Lose License

India-West News Desk

SACRAMENTO, CA – With January 6 approaching, a new flashpoint is emerging in the national immigration and transportation debate, as thousands of immigrant truck drivers across California prepare to lose their commercial licenses under tighter federal enforcement rules.

State officials say roughly 17,000 commercial drivers, including asylum seekers and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, have been notified that their Class A licenses will be canceled at the start of the new year.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that the cancellations will take effect January 6 after federal work authorization records showed that certain permits are expiring or no longer valid under updated federal standards.

Drivers who received the notices may still qualify for a standard Class C license, allowing them to operate personal vehicles, but they will no longer be permitted to drive commercial trucks. For many, that change effectively ends their livelihood in an industry already under political and economic pressure.

The move reflects a broader shift in federal policy under President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in April directing agencies to tighten oversight of commercial transportation and immigration compliance. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has since rolled out new regulations barring refugees, asylum seekers, and DACA recipients from holding commercial trucking licenses and stepped up enforcement against drivers deemed to have limited English proficiency.

The Transportation Department says a nationwide audit found that California and at least five other states, including Texas, Washington, and Pennsylvania, improperly issued commercial licenses to immigrants who did not meet federal eligibility requirements.

California officials dispute the scope of the violations but acknowledge they are overhauling internal systems. The DMV says it is correcting program errors and deploying new software designed to better align state license records with federal work authorization data.

The enforcement push carries economic consequences. Immigrants make up a significant share of the trucking workforce, particularly in California, which serves as a critical hub for ports, agriculture, and interstate commerce. Of the more than 720,000 active commercial licenses in the state, about 8 percent, or roughly 61,000, are held by non-citizen immigrants who were previously eligible under state and federal rules, according to CalMatters.

Industry leaders warn that removing large numbers of drivers could drive up transportation costs. Fewer drivers on the road typically means higher shipping rates, costs that can eventually reach consumers through higher prices for goods.

The political stakes are also rising. Duffy has threatened to withhold $160 million in federal highway safety funds from California, about 4 percent of the total allocation, over what he describes as repeated violations uncovered in the audit. Separately, the Transportation Department says it will block California from receiving an additional $40 million in federal grants, citing alleged failures to enforce English-language proficiency requirements.

As January 6 nears, the license cancellations underscore how immigration enforcement, workforce regulation, and economic policy are converging on the nation’s highways. The administration has framed the crackdown as a matter of legality and safety, signaling that compliance, not accommodation, will define federal transportation policy in the year ahead.