California defies deadline on immigrant trucker licenses as feds threaten funding cuts
California has announced delays to a crackdown on thousands of immigrants who were given commercial driver's licenses in the Golden State, prompting quick condemnation from the federal government, which had pushed for the licenses to be canceled after a series of deadly crashes involving foreign drivers.
The move to push back the cancellations until March is designed to give officials more time to resolve the concerns of federal authorities, according to the state's Department of Motor Vehicles. It affects about 17,000 noncitizens.
The Trump administration and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had set a Jan. 5 deadline, warning that failure to meet it could cost California $160 million in federal funding. California authorities are also facing a class-action lawsuit brought by immigration advocates who argued that the crackdown unfairly targets truckers and bus drivers.
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The Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, along with the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed the lawsuit last week, arguing the cancellations would "result in mass work stoppages" immediately upon the deadline.
Impacted drivers get another 60 days before the cancellations take effect, according to the DMV.
Duffy sharply criticized the move on X.
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"California does NOT have an 'extension' to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads," Duffy wrote earlier this week. "Miss the deadline, [Gov. Gavin Newsom], and the @USDOT will act — including cutting nearly $160 million in federal funding."
Separately, he has announced $118 million in grants for states to crack down on "unqualified, unvetted drivers."
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The dispute comes after a series of deadly crashes around the country involving illegal immigrant drivers behind the wheel.
In one case, a purported illegal immigrant from India named Harjinder Singh allegedly killed three people after attempting an illegal U-turn in Florida on Aug. 12. His CDL had been issued on the other side of the country — in California.
Singh allegedly failed to recognize three out of four highway traffic signs and answered just two questions out of 12 correctly in an English proficiency assessment delivered by transportation officials, Fox News Digital reported previously.
California leaders, for their part, have said they intend to improve vetting and security measures while continuing to issue CDLs to noncitizens.
"We are hopeful that our collaboration with the federal government will give [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] confidence in our updated processes to allow California to promptly resume issuance of nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses," California's DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office for comment.
Fox News Digital's Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.