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California is set to revoke commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued to 17,000 immigrants after pressure from the Trump administration.
The licenses that are expected to be revoked would have expired after the driver was legally allowed to be in the country.
“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”
The Transportation Department said that those impacted by the decision have been notified that their licenses no longer meet federal requirements and will expire in 60 days. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a post on X that the federal requirements referenced were not in effect when the licenses were issued.
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In the scathing social media post, Newsom’s office slammed Duffy over the Transportation Department’s statement on the matter, highlighting each point that it deemed to be a “lie.”
The first point that Newsom’s office pushed back on was the department’s assertion that the California Department of Motor Vehicles “admitted to illegally issuing” the 17,000 CDLs in question. Newsom’s office claims that the licenses were withdrawn because they were inconsistent with California law.
Newsom’s office also rejected the department’s statement that the drivers who received the licenses were illegal immigrants, saying that they were present in the U.S. legally and “had been granted work authorization by the federal government.”
Additionally, Newsom’s office disputed the claim that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) analysis showed that “more than one in four of the non-domiciled CDL records sampled in California failed to comply with federal regulations.” The California governor’s office claimed that FMCSA’s analysis was “based on retroactive application of its new rules” and said “FMCSA also faults California for following guidance explicitly approved by DHS.”
Duffy, however, hit back, saying, “We’ve said all along, [DOT] is reprimanding California for violating [FMCSA’s] ORIGINAL rules.”
“My emergency rule came as a consequence in part for California’s total disregard of those federal laws — it was THAT BAD,” Duffy added.
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California’s move to revoke the licenses came just one day before Harjinder Singh, who crossed into the United States illegally in 2018 and is accused of causing a fatal accident that left three people dead, faced a docket call hearing as the court reviews discovery issues and interpreter concerns.
Singh was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after he allegedly attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an “Official Use Only” access point in Fort Pierce, Fla. When making the turn, Singh allegedly caused what Homeland Security called a “brutal wreck.” In August, Singh was extradited from California to Florida, where the accident took place.
Just days after the accident, officials investigating the wreck said that Singh failed English and road sign tests.
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“During [FMCSA’s] interview with the driver, investigators administered an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment in accordance with FMCSA guidance,” the Department of Transportation said in a statement. “The driver failed the assessment, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.”
In another instance, Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who received a CDL from California, was charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence after allegedly driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that left three people dead.
Multiple federal law enforcement sources told Fox News that Singh was first encountered by Border Patrol agents in California’s El Centro Sector in March 2022 and released into the interior of the country pending an immigration hearing.
Police say Singh never hit the brakes before slamming into the traffic jam, citing toxicology tests that confirmed impairment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca and Jasmine Baehr and Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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