AI Generated Summary
- In a statement accompanying the filing, Sikh Coalition legal director Munmeeth Kaur said the drivers now face “potential economic ruin through no fault of their own,” adding that the state has an obligation to protect workers who relied on its licensing decisions.
- A coalition of immigrant truck drivers has taken legal action against California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, accusing the state of unlawfully moving to cancel thousands of commercial driver’s licences and jeopardising the livelihoods of workers who depend on them.
- As the case moves forward, the court will be asked to decide whether California’s actions crossed a legal line—and whether thousands of truckers will be allowed to stay on the road while that question is answered.
A coalition of immigrant truck drivers has taken legal action against California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, accusing the state of unlawfully moving to cancel thousands of commercial driver’s licences and jeopardising the livelihoods of workers who depend on them.
The class-action lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court, argues that the state failed to respect basic due process when it began notifying drivers that their licences would be revoked. According to state officials, roughly 17,000 commercial drivers were alerted last month that their licences would be cancelled because the listed expiration dates extended beyond the period they were legally authorised to remain in the United States.
Advocacy groups representing the drivers say the decision has placed families and entire communities at risk. Many of the affected drivers, they argue, have spent years building careers in the trucking industry and made life decisions based on the validity of licences that were legally issued at the time.
The lawsuit was filed by the Sikh Coalition, a national civil rights organisation, along with the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus. The groups contend that the DMV’s plan threatens workers with sudden unemployment and financial instability, despite no wrongdoing on their part. They are asking the court to halt the licence revocations while the case is reviewed.
In a statement accompanying the filing, Sikh Coalition legal director Munmeeth Kaur said the drivers now face “potential economic ruin through no fault of their own,” adding that the state has an obligation to protect workers who relied on its licensing decisions.
The controversy unfolds amid heightened federal scrutiny of state policies that allow immigrants to obtain commercial driving licences. Since the Trump administration intensified enforcement in this area, several states—including California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New York—have been warned they could lose federal funding if they continue issuing licences to immigrants whose legal status may later expire.
California officials have declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the pending litigation.
Public debate around immigrant truck drivers has also intensified following a series of deadly crashes. In August, a tractor-trailer driven by a person not authorised to be in the United States made an illegal U-turn in Florida, killing three people. A separate crash in California in October, also involving a truck driver in the country illegally, claimed three lives as well. Those incidents have added fuel to concerns over licensing, safety and immigration enforcement.
For the drivers at the centre of the lawsuit, however, the issue is less about politics and more about survival. As the case moves forward, the court will be asked to decide whether California’s actions crossed a legal line—and whether thousands of truckers will be allowed to stay on the road while that question is answered.
