California loses $160M for delaying revocation of 17,000 commercial driver's licenses for immigrants

"California will lose $160 million for delaying the revocations of 17,000 commercial driver's licenses for immigrants, federal transportation officials announced Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy already withheld $40 million in federal funding because he said California isn't enforcing English proficiency requirements for truckers. The state notified these drivers in the fall that they would lose their licenses after a federal audit found problems that included licenses for truckers and bus drivers that remained valid long after an immigrant's visa expired."

"Some licenses were also given to citizens of Mexico and Canada who don't qualify. More than one-quarter of the small sample of California licenses that investigators reviewed were unlawful. But then last week California said it would delay those revocations until March after immigrant groups sued the state because of concerns that some groups were being unfairly targeted. Duffy said the state was supposed to revoke those licenses by Monday."

"Duffy is pressuring California and other states to make sure immigrants who are in the country illegally aren't granted the licenses. Our demands were simple: follow the rules, revoke the unlawfully-issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers, and fix the system so this never happens again, Duffy said in a written statement. (Gov.) Gavin Newsom has failed to do so putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people."

Federal transportation officials announced that California will lose $160 million for delaying revocations of 17,000 commercial driver's licenses issued to immigrants. Secretary Sean Duffy had already withheld $40 million over alleged failure to enforce English proficiency rules for truckers. A federal audit found licenses that remained valid after visas expired and some issued to ineligible Mexican and Canadian citizens; more than one-quarter of a reviewed sample were unlawful. California delayed revocations until March after immigrant groups sued, prompting Duffy to say revocations were due by Monday. The federal crackdown intensified after fatal crashes involving unauthorized drivers and threatens funding for multiple states.

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