Thousands of immigrant drivers whose commercial driver’s licenses are set to expire next month were left bewildered and disappointed when news spread that California was planning on reissuing the licenses — only to learn federal regulators had not authorized doing so.
Amarjit Singh, a trucker and owner of a trucking company in the Bay Area, said he and other drivers were hopeful when word of California’s intentions reached them.
“We were happy [the California Department of Motor Vehicles] was going to reissue them,” he said. “But now, things aren’t so clear and it feels like we’re in the dark.”
Singh said he doesn’t know whether he should renew his insurance and permits that allow him to operate in different states.
“I don’t know if I’m going to have to look for another job,” he said. “I’m stuck.”
Singh is one of 17,000 drivers who were given 60-day cancellation notices on Nov. 6 following a federal audit of California’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s license program, which became a political flashpoint after an undocumented truck driver was accused of making an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.
The nationwide program allows immigrants authorized to work in the country to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. But officials said the federal audit found that the California Department of Motor Vehicles had issued thousands of licenses with expiration dates that extended beyond the work permits, prompting federal officials to halt the program until the state was in compliance.
This week, the San Francisco Chronicle obtained a letter dated Dec. 10 from DMV Director Steve Gordon to the U.S Department of Transportation stating that the state agency had met federal guidelines and would begin reissuing the licenses.
In a statement to The Times, DMV officials confirmed that they had notified regulators and were planning to issue the licenses on Wednesday, but federal authorities told them Tuesday that they could not proceed.
DMV officials said they met with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, to seek clarification about what issues remain unresolved.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, which oversees the FMCSA, would only say that it was continuing to work with the state to ensure compliance.
The DMV is hopeful the federal government will allow California to move ahead, said agency spokesperson Eva Spiegel.
“Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy — our supply chains don’t move and our communities don’t stay connected without them,” Spiegel said. “DMV stands ready to resume issuing commercial driver’s licenses, including corrected licenses to eligible drivers. Given we are in compliance with federal regulations and state law, this delay by the federal government not only hurts our trucking industry, but it also leaves eligible drivers in the cold without any resolution during this holiday season.”
Bhupinder Kaur — director of operations at UNITED SIKHS, a national human and civil rights organization — said the looming cancellations will disproportionately impact Sikh, Punjabi, Latino and other immigrant drivers who are essential to California’s freight economy.
“I’ve spoken to truckers who have delayed weddings. I’ve spoken to truckers who have closed their trucking companies. I’ve spoken to truckers who are in this weird limbo of not knowing how to support their families,” Kaur said. “I myself come from a trucker family. We’re all facing the effects of this.”
Despite hitting a speed bump this week, Kaur said the Sikh trucking community remains hopeful.
“The Sikh sentiment is always to remain optimistic,” she said. “We’re not going to accept it — we’re just gonna continue to fight.”
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