In October, an immigrant truck driver — who federal authorities alleged does not have legal status — killed three people in an Ontario car crash. In a letter sent last week, the U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration claimed the collision “may have been avoided,” if California had complied with new federal rules — rules that could also lead to 61,000 truck drivers in California losing their licenses.
As CalMatters’ Adam Echelman explains, before President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, non-citizen immigrants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, were allowed by the federal government to carry trucking licenses. More than 720,000 trucking licenses are active in California, with about 61,000, or 8%, belonging to non-citizen immigrants.
But in September, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued new regulations prohibiting certain immigrants from holding commercial trucking licenses — and singled out California in the process.
After claiming that the transportation department conducted a “nationwide audit” of trucking policies, Duffy threatened to withhold $160 million, or roughly 4% of the state’s federal highway safety funds, from California due to alleged violations.
Duffy, in a September statement: “California’s reckless disregard is frankly disgusting and an affront to the millions of Americans who expect us to keep them safe.”
Duffy, in that same statement, argued that issuing licenses to “dangerous foreign drivers” threatens “the safety of every family on the road.” Yet, in publishing the new regulations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also acknowledged that there’s not enough evidence to prove that certain kinds of immigrants drive more dangerously than others.
The transportation department also said it won’t award the state $40 million from a separate federal grant because it claims that California is failing to enforce English-language proficiency guidelines for truck drivers.
If California rescinded the trucking licenses from all its non-citizens, the sudden drop in truckers could result in increased shipping costs, experts say. California’s trucking industry could also take a hit: Despite the explosive growth of online retailers in the last decade, which has helped expand the trucking industry, trucking companies still struggle to retain workers who are willing to work the long hours and receive the low pay that entry-level positions offer.
Read more to learn how California is responding to the new rules.