California Revokes 17,000 Illegal Alien CDLs After Sec. Duffy Threatens Fines
Meanwhile, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds calls for federal crackdown on sanctuary-state policies allowing illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses.
A few weeks ago, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy issued an emergency action plan including new emergency federal restrictions for non-citizens seeking commercial driver’s licenses (CDL), in the wake of horrific traffic accidents caused by illegal immigrant drivers recklessly disregarding American rules for the road.
The emergency action plan included a threat to seriously fine the State of California for essentially running a CDL mill for illegals, as one-quarter of these licenses issued were for “non-domiciled” drivers.
.@CAgovernor strikes again!
Thousands of foreign drivers who can’t speak English or understand road signs have commercial driver’s licenses… and that’s putting the American people in danger.
Thankfully we have @CBP doing the job Newsom won’t. https://t.co/mF38Y9sJxI
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 19, 2025
Now it is being reported that California will revoke 17,000 CDLs given to illegal aliens after the expiration dates pass, when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the country.
The announcement follows harsh criticism from the Trump administration about California and other states granting licenses to people in the country illegally. The issue was thrust into the public’s consciousness in August, when a tractor-trailer driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that California’s action to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly even though it previously defended its licensing standards. California launched its review of commercial driver’s licenses it issued after Duffy raised concerns.
…Newsom’s office said that every one of the drivers whose license is being revoked had valid work authorizations from the federal government. At first, his office declined to disclose the exact reason for revoking the licenses, saying only they violated state law. Later, his office revealed the state law it was referring to was one that requires the licenses expire on or before a person’s legal status to be in the United State ends, as reported to the DMV.
Duffy indicates that 17,000 is merely “the tip of the iceberg“.
“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed,” Duffy said. “Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Like, 17,000 is the only number that is being admitted to…for now. This issue will likely be a focus of debate during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bid for the presidency.
“If you guys didn’t know this, I have made it my personal mission to destroy Gavin Newscum’s presidential run.”
California DMV admitted to issuing 17,000 CDL licenses to foreign drivers.
We need to hold him responsible for this! pic.twitter.com/qOBqFU0Er1
— AmericanPapaBear™ (@AmericaPapaBear) November 13, 2025
Now Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) is calling for a federal crackdown on sanctuary-state policies that allow illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses after a joint ICE and Oklahoma Highway Patrol operation arrested 34 illegal immigrants accused of driving commercial trucks while unlawfully in the country.
“You have blue states that do not care about the nation’s laws. They want to be sanctuaries, they want to house illegals, and then who pays the price are citizens in red states who actually do not want these sanctuary policies,” Donalds, a Republican, told Fox News Digital.
Donalds said the incident in Oklahoma underscores a growing national safety risk – foreign nationals who “cannot read our road signs” yet are “gaming the system” to obtain commercial licenses in states like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
…Donalds said legislation he has introduced, the WEIGH Act, would give the federal government new tools to stop states from issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants and to punish those that do.
“This is one of the reasons why I sponsored the WEIGH Act here in D.C.,” he explained. “It would actually give broader authority for the Department of Transportation to not just hold other states accountable that are letting these CDL licenses be issued, but would also give the Department of Treasury the ability to withhold federal funds in the process.”
If you can’t speak English.
If you can’t read a road sign.
If your CDL has irregularities.You have NO BUSINESS driving a truck in this country.
This is why I am leading the federal crackdown on illegal alien truckers to keep American motorists safe – HR 5177 – “The WEIGH Act.” pic.twitter.com/StN37v5jtN
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) September 16, 2025
It will be interesting to look at transportation statistics over the next few years to see how much difference the America First policy has made.
It will be interesting to see how much safer and less congested our streets is after a year of rigorous border control and illegal immigrant deportations. https://t.co/2Pz0cnx8aj
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) November 20, 2025
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Comments
And, in Connecticut the State Police have in effect given complete immunity to illegals and minorities driving recklessly in their Altimas on the highways.
Too scared for their pensions to risk complaints, they have instituted a program focusing on ticketing old ladies driving a couple miles an hour over the speed limit on tertiary roads in small towns that are 95 percent white.
They are so brave.
It’s all about the revenue. Safety doesn’t enter into it, and never has.
State police in CT have always raised revenue this way targeting cars with out of state license plates just passing through. In fact a lot of states do this. It is kind of infuriating to see,
17,000 just in CA?!!!!
How many driving around the rest of the US?!
And I guarantee you every one of those SEVENTEEN THOUSAND illegal aliens were allowed to vote.
I don’t believe many vote in person or by mail. Others in the state use their information provided by the California state law that automatically registers them to vote when they get the driver’s license.
These nefarious groups harvest the ballots, fill thrm out, and count them on election night.
The crime I see committed that infuriates me is that the state gives them the REAL ID star on the license. This allows the illegal alien to fly. Is the DOJ looking into this?
Same with RI.
RIers were assured the licenses would be so they (illegals) could purchase car insurance and wouldn’t be the same as citizens licenses. They are identical.
CA DMV automatically registers drivers to vote. Then the votes are cast illegally in one way or another – either by the alien or by the fraud mill.
No, it does not. It only registers drivers to vote if they are eligible to do so. There was a glitch in 2018 that accidentally registered 23,000 people who should have been. That was fixed.
Actually, they do because CA DMV does not require proof of citizenship on the license form. All the applicant has to do is check the box to be registered to vote. DMV accepts that the applicant “certifies” that they meet the requirements. Occasionally some are accidentally detected, since the party of government which runs the bureaucracy has an interest in those votes.
The driver’s license has nothing to do with that. Someone who wants to assert he’s a citizen and register can easily do so. The federal form also has only a box to check and sign. If you get caught you are prosecuted, but the chance of ever being caught is low.
But illegal aliens are issued a license that is specifically coded not to be passed on to the voter registration system.
How can you possibly know that? Giving them a non-domiciled driver’s license would not help them vote, so allowing them to do so would involve a completely separate breach of duty by a completely separate department.
Finally. Now start revoking other licenses and paperwork to enforce the whole “full faith and credit” thing. California has been abusing it for a long time now.
Meanwhile, truckers that have the legal right to live and work in the United States are struggling to keep their businesses afloat.
Where are the teamsters on this?
Collecting dues.
It’s all about the dues man!
How about this, we prohibit illegals from obtaining any kind of driver’s license be it a CDL, a regular Operator’s License or any other type of license that would allow illegals to drive on the roads. And if a state just has to give them some kind of document then allow them to have an Identification Card that clearly states it’s not to be used for driving purposes nor election purposes and leave it at that. No need for any illegals to have driving privileges. Period.
Oh sure.
See my post in reply to recargador1 at 9:32
I would rather have non citizen legal residents be able to get a driving license. BUT.. as part o= the process, test their language ability, i not good, no license. As to nonlegal residents, let them apply and when they cannot present valid residence documents, turn them over to INS. and get them deported.
Those lawphully present and who want/need to drive must be identiphied and tested. the nonsense o un=skilled illegals MUST be ended.
Oh, and NO CDL’s unless a lawphul resident. NONE. Proving their legal resident status MUST become mandatory, certiphied documents.
I have to submit these sorts o documents to get the enhanced DL, and/or pass port. Why do I have to and they don’t? Craziness. In spades.
And, ANY driver pulled over or contacted who cannot provide appropriate docs the coppers must investigate thoroughly. Dispatch do have access to DL and other records to establish valid status.
“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” – Thomas Sowell.
I’m no lawyer, but I have it on good authority that there are laws that criminalize depraved indifference, willful negligence, aiding & abetting, accomplice to crime, threat to public safety, etc.
These bureacrats and politicos who bestow ‘no name’ CDLs upon 10s of thousands of illegal aliens who can’t speak English, read road signs, or operators manuals, or communicate with law enforcement while they operate 80,000 lbs of rolling steel at 70 MPH on U.S. highways are guilty of the crimes listed above, in addition to OSHA violations which create potentially deadly workplace.
Unless or until these bureaucrats and politicos are criminally prosecuted for their crimes it’s still just **clownworld** where they’ll do it again because there are no consequences.
What say you, Mr. Sowell?
Other States could act to protect their Citizens by refusing to honor CA DL based on the clear evidence that rigorous adherence to qualification standards for issuance were not followed. If a State can reject reciprocity for 2A rights they can certainly do so for the privilege of driving.
good call
s usual Thomas sowell is roght.
Caliphrbia need to be mandated by phedguv to trace the pwperwork trail on every one o thosee CDL’s now cancelled. he ecord will show every agent who had any role alng the path to issuancee. Those illegal CDL’s were issued by corrupt agents whoMUST be taken to task.. most need to be removed and permanently banished on ever having such authovity again.
I will bet this would total well above 200,000 crooked agents should it be persued 17,000 people got licenses who never shoild have. Multiple clevks, etc along each trail. Each one conneced with a critical stage along the path to licensue should be canned.
doing the job the robots wont do
The only reason the Democrats relented is because they know the majority of their voters are convinced that this sort of thing is an imaginary right-wing conspiracy theory, and that illegals weren’t in fact getting CDLs.
“Newsom’s office said that every one of the drivers whose license is being revoked had valid work authorizations from the federal government.”
So your slick move is to throw your boy Biden under the bus? Keep digging, fool!
“They want to be sanctuaries, they want to house illegals, and then who pays the price are citizens in red states who actually do not want these sanctuary policies”
Of course, this has ALWAYS been the price of letting these rogue states send congressmen to Washington. The Lautenberg domestic violence provision. The Schumer rights restoration prohibition. The Hart–Celler Act.
I despise Newsome and what he’s done to CA, but something needs to be addressed. The companies that hired these illegals needs to be held to account, criminally and civilly. Make sure ACME Shipping never thinks of hiring an illegal again, knowing one accident may put them out of business, and the president into jail.
Well, if Newsom isn’t blowing smoke, and Sleepy Joe did give them work authorizations, the employers did nothing wrong.
The Federal Government needs to go after every state’s DMV issuing CDL to illegals and identify the issuer in the DMV arrest them. Once they arrest the issuer then work up the chain and arrest the higher ups including the politicians that passed the laws that allowed it.
FLA & TX were right up there with NY, NJ, CA, PA, IL in issuing CDL’s to illegals.
I’m going to be consistent here, FLA & TX were right up there with NY, NJ, CA, PA, IL in issuing CDL’s to illegals. They need to look into and clean their own houses.
The insurance companies could fix this by voiding the insurance of any trucking co employing an illegal.
The ‘Red’ states could use mandatory checkpoints to pull these drivers out of rigs, impound the vehicle, and turning the driver over to ICE. The cost of retrieving these vehicles will make all but the Bluest states no drive areas.
Unless we go after employers, all that cancelling the CDLs will do is gin up a brisk trade in fake documents, along with the usual excuses that verifying is racist. The commercial lobbies will insist that enforcement will drive up prices and deprive us of more unnecessary but profitable stuff. Then the politicians that they have bought will loudly forecast economic disaster, and insist that since these illegals will of continue to drive illegally anyway, this will result in hordes of uninsurable drivers in big rigs running into people, who will then go to billboard lawyers expecting to be awarded big bucks, only to be cruelly disappointed. Ultimately all the legal drivers will be paying substantially higher liability insurance premiums for all those uninsured collisions, and civilization as we know it will come to a screeching halt.