US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he plans to withhold $160 million in funding from California and may even remove their ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses entirely.
Duffy appeared on Fox News on Sunday, October 26th, stating that California Governor Gavin Newsom has not complied with U.S. Department of Transportation rules to cease issuing CDLs to people of a certain immigration status and to evaluate all existing CDLs, reported ABC.
“So, one, I’m about to pull $160 million from California,” Duffy said. “And, as we pull more money, we also have the option of pulling California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses.”
Duffy says that the state of California has issued tens of thousands of CDLs to ineligible noncitizens.
“So you have 60,000 people on the roads who shouldn’t have licenses,” Duffy said. “They’re driving fuel tankers, they’re driving school buses, and we have seen some of the crashes on American roadways that come from these people who shouldn’t have these licenses.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles claims that the federal government has “no legitimate basis” for the withholding of funds.
“The federal government previously allowed commercial driver’s licenses for asylum seekers and refugees and on September 26 announced emergency regulations to cease this practice that went into effect on September 29. California is in compliance with these regulations and will remain in compliance with federal law,” spokesperson for the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Eva Spiegel, wrote to NBC.