President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April, reinforcing English requirements for commercial vehicle drivers. In September, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced an emergency rule to exclude asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants from holding these licenses, arguing it would improve safety on the roads. About 200,000 commercial drivers with valid work permits were expected to lose their licenses and jobs as a result.
“We have a vulnerable workforce here that [has] become a political football,” said Steve Viscelli, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies the trucking industry.
Viscelli questioned whether any reliable evidence links safe driving with immigration status. He recommended the administration focus instead on enhancing job conditions and wages in the industry, especially in long-haul trucking.
“The best thing we can do for safety is to retain experienced, well-compensated professional drivers,” he said. “Experienced drivers are more knowledgeable, just more ready to handle those unexpected situations. And the problem is we can’t retain them.”
About 700,000 drivers have commercial licenses in California to operate large vehicles ranging from semi-trailers to oil tankers and school buses, according to the DMV. A federal court in Washington, D.C. halted the FMCSA rule in November after unions, drivers and others sued. The administration is preparing a permanent regulation and reviewing public comments.
The sleeping area inside Amarjit Singh’s truck is seen on Dec. 16, 2025, in Livermore. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)
The California DMV’s Nov. 6 cancellation letters said that only drivers who met the new FMCSA rule requirements may keep their commercial licenses. But the court’s decision putting that rule on hold meant the state could reissue CDLs with correct expiration dates to those who have valid work authorization and pass knowledge, skills and medical tests, according to several unions, elected officials and nonprofits that called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene. Groups such as United Sikhs and the Sikh Coalition said they met with state officials seeking a resolution.
A spokesperson with the California State Transportation Agency, which oversees the DMV, maintained as of early Tuesday that the agency could not issue or renew non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses due to the FMCSA findings of mismatched dates. Members of WhatsApp driver chat groups, however, and several sources not authorized to speak with the media said they expected a good outcome for drivers would be announced soon.
Shortly after the San Francisco Chronicle first reported California’s plans to start reissuing non-domiciled CDLs for drivers, the transportation agency spokesperson confirmed to KQED the news but declined to provide more information.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the DMV’s website had not posted updates on the issue and drivers said they had not yet received emailed notifications of any changes.
Amarjit Singh holds a letter from the California Department of Motor Vehicles notifying him of the cancellation of his commercial driver’s license on Dec. 16, 2025, in Livermore, California. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)
It’s unclear how federal officials will react if the state moves to reissue these licenses. The U.S. Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bhupinder Kaur, director of operations of advocacy group United Sikhs, said many drivers have contacted the nonprofit’s helpline with questions about what steps they should follow to keep their licenses.
Some reported that DMV offices they’d flocked to on Wednesday morning were still not sharing updated information.
Overall, Kaur said the ordeal left her and several relatives in the trucking business “on edge,” fearing that these licenses could still be taken away, which would threaten families’ livelihoods. She added that some Sikh drivers and logistics businesses had already lost income as a result of the uncertainty.
“Immigrant truck drivers were turned into collateral damage in a federal power struggle,” Kaur said. “It should never have happened, and we hope it doesn’t happen again.”
