AP
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California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses given to immigrants after discovering the expiration dates went previous when the drivers were legally allowed to be within the US, state officers mentioned Wednesday.
The announcement follows harsh criticism from the Trump administration about California and different states granting licenses to individuals within the nation illegally. The situation was thrust into the general public’s consciousness in August, when a tractor-trailer driver not approved to be within the US made an unlawful U-turn and brought on a crash in Florida that killed three individuals.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned Wednesday that California’s motion to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly although it beforehand defended its licensing requirements. California launched its overview of commercial driver’s licenses it issued after Duffy raised issues.
“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,” Duffy mentioned, referring to the state’s governor. “This is just the tip of iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”
Newsom’s workplace mentioned that each one of many drivers whose license is being revoked had legitimate work authorizations from the federal authorities.
At first, his workplace declined to reveal the precise motive for revoking the licenses, saying solely they violated state regulation. Later, his workplace revealed the state regulation it was referring to was one which requires the licenses expire on or earlier than an individual’s authorized standing to be within the United State ends, as reported to the DMV.
Still, Newsom’s spokesperson Brandon Richards shot again at Duffy in a press release.
“Once again, the Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader,” Richards mentioned.
Fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this 12 months additionally spotlight questions on these licenses. A fiery California crash that killed three individuals final month concerned a truck driver within the nation illegally, solely including to the issues.
Duffy beforehand imposed new restrictions on which immigrants can qualify for commercial driver’s licenses. He mentioned earlier this fall that California and 5 different states had improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens, however California is the one state Duffy has taken motion towards as a result of it was the primary one the place an audit was accomplished.
The critiques within the different states have been delayed by the federal government shutdown, however the Transportation Department is urging all of them to tighten their requirements.
Duffy revoked $40 million in federal funding as a result of he mentioned California isn’t imposing English language necessities for truckers, and he reiterated Wednesday that he’ll take one other $160 million from the state over these improperly issued licenses in the event that they don’t invalidate each unlawful license and handle all of the issues. But revoking these licenses is a part of the state’s effort to conform.
The new guidelines for commercial driver’s licenses that Duffy introduced in September make getting them extraordinarily exhausting for immigrants as a result of solely three particular courses of visa holders shall be eligible. States can even need to confirm an applicant’s immigration standing in a federal database. The licenses shall be legitimate for as much as one 12 months except the applicant’s visa expires sooner.
Under the brand new guidelines, solely 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who’ve commercial licenses would qualify for them, which might solely be accessible to drivers who’ve an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa.
H-2a is for non permanent agricultural employees whereas H-2b is for non permanent nonagricultural employees, and E-2 is for individuals who make substantial investments in a US enterprise. But the principles gained’t be enforced retroactively, so these 190,000 drivers shall be allowed to maintain their commercial licenses at the very least till they arrive up for renewal.
Those new necessities weren’t in place on the time the 17,000 California licenses had been issued. But these drivers got notices that their licenses will expire in 60 days.
Duffy mentioned in September that investigators discovered that one quarter of the 145 licenses they reviewed in California shouldn’t have been issued. He cited 4 California licenses that remained legitimate after the driver’s work allow expired — generally years after.
Newsom’s workplace mentioned the state adopted steerage it acquired from the US Department of Homeland Security about issuing these licenses to noncitizens.