Trump administration withdraws $160M in highway funds from California over immigrant license extensions
The Trump administration is withholding about $160 million from California in response to the state's decision to delay the cancellation of more than 17,000 immigrant truckers' commercial driver's licenses, it announced Wednesday.
"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," U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. "Gavin Newsom has failed to do so — putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people."
Duffy has spent the last several months threatening to pull the federal funds, which were to be used for highway safety, roads and law enforcement training. The agency in September started auditing the California Department of Motor Vehicles' process for issuing commercial licenses to non-citizens, largely asylum-seekers who have federal work permits allowing them to hold jobs while their immigration cases play out. It accused the state of "illegally" issuing thousands of licenses — something California has denied.
The funding revocation is the latest move by the Trump administration to punish California for policies it disapproves of. The White House has already attempted to claw back funding over the state's sanctuary policies, state law that allows transgender athletes to compete on women's sports teams and more. This week, the federal government said it would freeze billions in funds for child care and needy families as it audits California and four other Democrat-led states' use of taxpayer money and whether it benefits non-citizens. The effort to target immigrants' licenses is part of a broader push by the administration to remove as many immigrants from the country as possible — including those following the legal process to seek citizenship or remain in the country legally.
California officials have said the federal audit revealed valid issues with its system, but maintains it never broke any laws. They have also pushed back against the administration's characterization that immigrant drivers are less safe on the road. The DMV admitted it broke its own state laws, which require the expiration dates on non-citizen's commercial licenses to expire on or before the date of their federally issued working permits. That's what prompted the mass cancellation notices that first went out to drivers in November.
It's been frustrating and confusing for drivers across the state, especially in the Central Valley, where a large concentration of Punjabi immigrants make their careers in trucking.
The state has about 65,000 drivers who fall into a category known as "non-domicile" drivers, who are noncitizens with federal work permits. The Trump administration has made it clear it wants to strip all drivers in this group of the ability to drive commercially — in California and beyond. It enacted new rules that would bar most immigrants from obtaining commercial licenses, but the plan is on hold for now under a court order.
The DMV and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
California announced last week that licensed drivers who had received cancellation notices set to take effect on Jan. 5 would receive a two-month extension
Drivers — all of whom passed skills tests to get trucking licenses –– hoped that that would give the state and federal government more time to work out a solution while they continued driving school buses and 16-wheelers.
Instead, the Department of Transportation has refused to accept California's fixes and blocked the state from re-issuing licenses with corrected expiration dates, according to state officials. In a "final determination" issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Wednesday, officials said California's decision to delay the cancellations until March was "contrary to the corrective action plan" the two parties agreed on during the audit process.
"Trump and Secretary Duffy's announcement today is another dangerous political ploy," Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Slashing $160 million in funding for road maintenance and law enforcement will only make our roads more dangerous and put the lives of California drivers at risk."
The system error at issue allowed some licenses to be issued to non-citizen drivers that extended beyond the date of their federally issued work permits. In other cases, though, the DMV didn't have the most up-to-date work permits in its system, the Chronicle found. In those cases, the drivers had current work permits and driver's licenses with dates that weren't in conflict, yet many were still notified their licenses would be canceled.
After facing a lawsuit filed by affected drivers, California announced it was delaying the cancellations.
"We will not accept a corrective plan that knowingly leaves thousands of drivers holding noncompliant licenses behind the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks in open defiance of federal safety regulations," said Derek D. Barrs, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in a statement.
On Dec. 24, the DMV told the federal government about its plans to delay the cancellation, and received no response, according to the governor's office. On Dec. 30, Duffy disparaged the state's decision on social media and called Newsom a liar.
Newsom's press office responded to the post saying Duffy's staff told the California DMV it was "open to an extension" for the licenses and that it made "logistical sense."
"Only after the plan became public did your agency suddenly object," Newsom's press office wrote. "That's not California 'lying.' That's federal mismanagement."
In December, the DMV spokesperson Eva Spiegel said the agency was in compliance with federal regulations and state law and that the federal government's actions were hurting the state's trucking industry.
The state has about 65,000 drivers who fall into a category known as "non-domicile" drivers, who are noncitizens with federal work permits. The Trump administration has made it clear it wants to strip all drivers in this group of the ability to drive commercially — in California and beyond. It enacted new rules that would bar most immigrants from obtaining commercial licenses, but the plan is on hold for now under a court order.
The DMV and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
California announced last week that licensed drivers who had received cancellation notices set to take effect on Jan. 5 would receive a two-month extension
Drivers — all of whom passed skills tests to get trucking licenses –– hoped that that would give the state and federal government more time to work out a solution while they continued driving school buses and 16-wheelers.
Instead, the Department of Transportation has refused to accept California's fixes and blocked the state from re-issuing licenses with corrected expiration dates, according to state officials. In a "final determination" issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Wednesday, officials said California's decision to delay the cancellations until March was "contrary to the corrective action plan" the two parties agreed on during the audit process.
"Trump and Secretary Duffy's announcement today is another dangerous political ploy," Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Slashing $160 million in funding for road maintenance and law enforcement will only make our roads more dangerous and put the lives of California drivers at risk."
The system error at issue allowed some licenses to be issued to non-citizen drivers that extended beyond the date of their federally issued work permits. In other cases, though, the DMV didn't have the most up-to-date work permits in its system, the Chronicle found. In those cases, the drivers had current work permits and driver's licenses with dates that weren't in conflict, yet many were still notified their licenses would be canceled.
After facing a lawsuit filed by affected drivers, California announced it was delaying the cancellations.
"We will not accept a corrective plan that knowingly leaves thousands of drivers holding noncompliant licenses behind the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks in open defiance of federal safety regulations," said Derek D. Barrs, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in a statement.
On Dec. 24, the DMV told the federal government about its plans to delay the cancellation, and received no response, according to the governor's office. On Dec. 30, Duffy disparaged the state's decision on social media and called Newsom a liar.
Newsom's press office responded to the post saying Duffy's staff told the California DMV it was "open to an extension" for the licenses and that it made "logistical sense."
"Only after the plan became public did your agency suddenly object," Newsom's press office wrote. "That's not California 'lying.' That's federal mismanagement."
In December, the DMV spokesperson Eva Spiegel said the agency was in compliance with federal regulations and state law and that the federal government's actions were hurting the state's trucking industry.
Warning : Harsh language | Sunny, a 15-year veteran
truck driver frustrated with what has become of his industry.