Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) admitted to illegally issuing 17,000 non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to foreign drivers endangering Americans.
“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Duffy said in a statement. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”
Notices have been issued to the thousands of drivers, informing them that their licenses do not meet federal requirements and will expire in 60 days.
The development comes as Duffy has threatened to revoke California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses if it fails to comply with transportation policies.
Speaking to Fox News’s Sean Hannity in October, Duffy said, “I already took $40 million from the state of California. I’m doing a quick review of their lack of compliance for our rules. I have the ability and I’m going to pull almost another $160 million.”
“And then I have the ability for California to say, listen, you don’t follow any of these rules that keep Americans safe, we’re going to revoke your ability to issue a commercial driver’s license,” he said.
Upon pulling millions of dollars from the state, Duffy said, “I put states on notice this summer: enforce the Trump Administration’s English language requirements or the checks stop coming.”
“California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement,” he explained. “This is a fundamental safety issue that impacts you and your family on America’s roads.”
