California DMV to reissue 17,000 CDLs of immigrant drivers sent cancellation notices last month

The California DMV will reissue 17,000 commercial drivers licenses for immigrant drivers sent cancellation notices last month. 

The 17,000 immigrant drivers were sent the 60-day cancellation notices on November 6th as part of the USDOT push to address non domiciled CDLs with expiration dates that did not match the driver’s work visa expiration dates. 

The 17,000 CDLs with mismatched expirations were discovered during a California state review prompted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s emergency rule to prevent asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants from holding or obtaining CDLs. In November, the US Court of Appeals in DC ordered an administrative stay on the emergency rule.

“The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motions for stay pending review and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of those motions,” the court stated.

As a result of the stay, California will now reissue the 17,000 CDLs slated for cancellation with new, updated, and correct expiration dates to qualified drivers with valid work authorization. The administration is still working to prepare a permanent regulation and review public comments on the matter. 

The plan to reissue CDLs has been confirmed by CalTrans, reported KQED. The USDOT has not yet commented on the state’s plans. Truck drivers in California say they have not yet received notifications regarding the plans to reissue.