Immigrant truckers file suit over California's plans to revoke commercial driver's licenses

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A group of immigrant truckers sued California's Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, alleging the state violated thousands of workers' rights when officials took action to revoke their commercial driver's licenses.

California officials said last month that the state notified about 17,000 truckers that their commercial driver's licenses would be revoked because the expiration dates went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S. That number has since grown to 21,000.

The move came after the Trump administration started cracking down on states' issuance of the licenses to immigrants. The federal government has threatened to withhold money from California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New York over the issue.

The Sikh Coalition, a national group defending the civil rights of Sikhs, and the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the California drivers.

“These drivers have spent years anchoring their lives to these careers, only to now face potential economic ruin through no fault of their own — they deserve better, and California must do better,” said Munmeeth Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s legal director, in a statement.

The state's plan to revoke the truckers' licenses violates their due process rights and threatens their livelihoods, the groups allege. They're asking the Alameda County Superior Court to pause the license cancellations.

The California DMV said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Concerns about immigrant truck drivers gained attention after a tractor-trailer driver who was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused an August crash in Florida that killed three people. A fiery California crash that also killed three people in October and involved a truck driver in the country illegally added to the worries.