SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — Thirteen thousand California truck drivers remain without commercial driver’s licenses despite a court order directing the state DMV to restore them. Caught between a state court ruling and federal enforcement, the DMV has not reissued a single license. Drivers may wait up to a year for an answer, with no guarantee of reinstatement.
How It Came to This
In September 2025, the Trump administration determined that the California DMV had issued commercial licenses with expiration dates that did not align with drivers’ work permit dates. The federal government ordered California to rescind thousands of trucking licenses for certain noncitizens and created a new policy barring such immigrant drivers from obtaining licenses going forward. The state ultimately complied. Roughly 13,000 drivers lost their licenses on March 6, 2026.
In February, an Alameda County Superior Court judge ordered the DMV to give affected drivers a chance to restore their licenses after the Asian Law Caucus, the Sikh Coalition, and a law firm sued on behalf of the truckers. “The court ruled that DMV must accept new applications and act on those applications within a ‘reasonable time frame,'” DMV spokesperson Jonathan Groveman told CalMatters. Despite that ruling, the DMV has not reissued a single license. It told affected drivers they may reapply, but that processing will take up to a year. Even then, the DMV told the court it may not be able to issue a decision on the licenses at all.
Why the DMV Isn’t Acting
The DMV faces competing pressure from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the state court. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy withheld approximately $160 million in federal highway funds from California over its previous handling of trucking licenses. He also threatened to revoke California’s authority to issue CDLs entirely if the state reissues licenses to the affected drivers.
A new federal rule that took effect March 16, 2026, bars almost all noncitizens from obtaining CDLs. The only exceptions are H-2A and H-2B seasonal workers and E-2 investor visa holders, all subject to strict vetting requirements.
The California DMV filed suit against the U.S. Department of Transportation in February over the funding threats. Other lawsuits, including a pending case in Washington, D.C., could affect the policies, but none have restored licenses so far.
On April 2, the Alameda County judge held a follow-up hearing seeking an update on the DMV’s progress. The state said it is still working through its dispute with the federal government and awaiting related legal developments. The judge agreed to revisit the case in October 2026.
What This Means for the Industry
Industry experts say as many as 61,000 California truck drivers could lose their licenses in the coming years as a result of federal actions — representing between 5% and 10% of the state’s total CDL holders. Many affected drivers are asylum seekers or DACA recipients with legal authorization to live and work in the United States. Industry experts warn the loss of so many drivers could raise shipping costs across California.
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