California’s governor defends license revocations as Trump administration claims victory

Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Josh Funk at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.

California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants amid a dispute between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration over whether the licenses were improperly issued or are being revoked for unspecified state law violations.

Some key facts:

• California is revoking 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses that were given to immigrants, with licenses expiring in 60 days.

• Newsom says the revocations are for violations of state laws that existed before recent Trump administration rule changes, though he did not provide specifics.

• U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claims the revocations are an admission that California acted improperly in issuing the licenses.

• Duffy revoked $40 million in federal funding from California and has threatened to take away another $160 million over the licenses.

• Newsom’s office says all 17,000 drivers whose licenses are being revoked had valid work authorizations from the federal government.

• New federal rules implemented in September restrict commercial driver’s licenses to only three visa types: H-2a, H-2b, and E-2.

• Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens with commercial licenses would qualify, though the rules won’t be enforced retroactively.

• Fatal truck crashes in Florida, Texas, Alabama, and California involving drivers in the country illegally prompted the nationwide commercial driver’s license audit.

READ MORE: California revokes 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses but disputes move is over immigration concern