U.S. Department of Transportation Orders California DMV to Cancel 13,000 Truck Licenses

(CALIFORNIA) — California DMV canceled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for approximately 13,000 immigrant truck drivers on March 6, 2026, after a federal mandate from the U.S. Department of Transportation forced the state to act on licensing records that did not match drivers’ authorized periods of stay.

The cancellations followed the discovery of clerical errors in which CDL expiration dates in DMV records extended beyond some drivers’ legal U.S. stay periods, even when those drivers held valid federal work permits.

Federal transportation officials required California to revoke the licenses after identifying mismatched expiration dates on over 20,000 licenses issued to immigrants, including asylum seekers with temporary legal status. The order put compliance pressure on the state by tying the licensing corrections to federal oversight of the commercial driver licensing system.

Notices went out to affected drivers last fall, with California initially planning to cancel licenses within 60 days. The agency later extended the deadline to March 6, 2026, as litigation unfolded and drivers sought time to challenge records and preserve their ability to work.

The legal fight began after the Asian Law Caucus and Sikh Coalition filed a lawsuit in December 2025 challenging the looming cancellations and seeking relief for immigrant drivers caught between federal immigration documentation and state recordkeeping. The plaintiffs also sought pathways to correct records they say were wrong.

In state court, an Alameda County Superior Court issued a tentative ruling that allowed some drivers to temporarily retain their licenses. State attorneys argued the dispute carried broader risks, warning that the federal government could respond with threats including potential loss of California’s CDL issuance authority.

A separate federal court ruling then blocked DMV from processing new CDL applications or correcting dates while the dispute proceeds. That left the state unable to use routine administrative fixes to align expiration dates with immigration documentation, forcing the March 6 cancellations for the 13,000 drivers whose licenses exceeded legal stay limits.

The result put many drivers in a bind: they could hold federal authorization to work, but still lose the specific state credential needed to drive commercially. For truckers paid by the mile or by the load, losing a CDL can mean losing a job overnight.

One driver, Amarjeet Singh, said date mismatches between work authorizations and DMV records drove the cancellations affecting people like him. The mismatch, as described by drivers and advocates in the case, turned on conflicting dates rather than a failure to meet the usual testing and safety requirements for commercial licensing.

The practical consequence on the road is immediate: without a valid CDL, a driver cannot legally operate commercial vehicles that require the credential, regardless of prior experience or current employment. For non-commercial driving such as passenger vehicles or light-duty trucks, affected drivers must apply for a Class C license, the agency said.

California also warned that not every immigrant-issued CDL ended the same way on March 6. Unaffected licenses remain valid until expiration but cannot be renewed under the new constraints triggered by the federal action and subsequent rules.

The U.S. Department of Transportation applied additional pressure with money. As punishment for the March 6 extension, the department announced in January 2026 it would withhold $160 million in federal highway funds from California.

That funding threat sharpened the stakes for state officials responsible for licensing and road safety systems. The episode also underscored how Washington can use both regulatory oversight and federal transportation dollars to push states to change how they handle commercial driver credentialing for non-citizens.

In February 2026, the department issued a rule barring states from issuing or renewing CDLs to certain immigrants, shaping the long-term outlook for drivers whose immigration status remains temporary even when they are authorized to work. The rule, described by opponents as disruptive to the workforce, added a second layer of restrictions beyond the March 6 cancellations tied to the mismatched expiration dates.

Unions and advocacy groups challenged that federal rule in court, with AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, and Public Citizen suing to block it. The lawsuit folds the licensing dispute into a broader argument over trucking workforce capacity, labor supply, and compliance systems intended to ensure drivers remain properly credentialed and monitored.

California DMV Director criticized the federal approach in a statement and framed it as a workforce issue as well as an immigration dispute. “This federal administration is using their war on immigration to remove qualified hard-working commercial drivers from our workforce who meet language and safety rules,” the director said.

DMV officials said the agency now must manage both the immediate cancellations and a tighter environment for corrections and renewals. The agency also said it is holding reapplications for one year, a policy that can extend time out of work for drivers trying to regain commercial driving privileges.

Drivers who believe they received a cancellation notice in error have been urged to seek a review of legal presence documents through DMV channels the agency provided before March 6. For thousands of immigrant drivers, the dispute leaves a narrow set of options: stop commercial driving, pursue non-commercial licensing, or wait while court fights and federal restrictions determine whether corrections and renewals become possible again.