CALIFORNIA — The Newsom Administration has confirmed that it is preparing to reissue commercial driver’s licenses to around 17,000 immigrant truck drivers whose credentials were previously set to be revoked, according to a KQED report.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will begin the process of reissuing the contested licenses. Details about how the process will work have not yet been fully clarified.

Drivers received 60-day cancellation notices on Nov. 6 after a review found mismatched expiration dates between their licenses and federal work authorizations. 

Many affected licenses were for drivers who had renewed work permits, but DMV records were not updated.

U.S. Court of Appeals issued a stay

The initial notices followed a federal review by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Federal officials examined non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), which are issued to non-citizens without permanent U.S. residency.

Their investigation found at least 17,000 California-issued CDLs with expiration dates that did not align with holders’ authorized legal status.

In November 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a stay on the FMCSA’s interim rule for non-domiciled CDLs, delaying its implementation. 

This allowed states, including California, to continue issuing licenses under previous regulations while complying with existing corrective action plans. 

Federal transportation officials had previously threatened to withhold more than $160 million in highway funding from California unless the state addressed the irregularities.

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