The California Department of Motor Vehicles shot back at the Trump Administration after losing two key legal battles and finding itself forced to revoke thousands of CDLs for non-citizens.
The move comes after California DMV's last hope to keep some 17,000 non-domiciled CDL drivers rolling died in court.
California DMV challenged the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's finding that the state didn't comply with federal CDL issuance rules, and the challenge got shot down in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
That challenge, denied on March 2, sought to restore California's right to issue non-domiciled CDLs and keep the state from losing nearly $160 million in federal funding.
[Related: DOT makes it official: California loses $160M over non-domiciled CDL battle]
In the wake of that defeat, California DMV is now scrambling to keep those thousands of non-citizen drivers licensed to operate even passenger cars, nevermind a commercial vehicle.
"Effective Friday, March 6, 2026, the federal government is requiring the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to cancel approximately 13,000 non-domiciled" CDLs, California DMV wrote in a release.
The state added that not all non-domiciled CDL holders there "are affected by this action and all those affected had already received notice from DMV that their licenses are subject to cancellation."
The DMV called out "misleading statements by the Trump Administration" about the eligibility of these drivers for CDLs, but ultimately said it would follow orders from the federal government now.
[Related: Homeland Security explains how 'illegal aliens' get CDLs in the U.S.]
"While a recent court ruling now allows affected individuals to submit a new CDL application, the federal government is barring the DMV from processing these applications currently," California said of the legal back-and-forth.
California DMV urged FMCSA to allow them to process non-domiciled CDL applications, but more immediately alerted all impacted drivers to get in touch with the state and obtain a new Class C California driver's license.
"This federal administration is using their war on immigration to remove qualified, hardworking commercial drivers from our workforce who meet language and safety rules,” said California DMV Director Steve Gordon. “There are no guarantees that additional solutions will become available to help these drivers and their employers but, in the meantime, there are immediate actions they must take to get a Class C license to be able to drive regular cars.”
The licenses of California non-domiciled CDL holders not impacted will remain valid until they expire, the state noted, but as things stand, California cannot renew, replace, or make any changes to their CDLs or driver's licenses.
Commenting on a separate legal battle, between legal groups representing non-domiciled drivers and the state itself, California confirmed it won't be issuing any non-domiciled CDLs despite an order from its own in-state court.
The state DMV wrote that "in a separate decision also issued on March 2, 2026, the Alameda County Superior Court issued a ruling in Doe v. Department of Motor Vehicles" requiring the state to allow non-domiciled CDL holders who received cancellation letters to re-apply.
"Although the court ruling means the DMV must accept non-domiciled CDL applications, the department is prevented from issuing non-domiciled CDLs until FMCSA lifts its mandated 'pause,'" California's DMV wrote. "All applications will remain pending for a maximum of one year until the DMV determines it can act on them."
Drivers can still apply for a CDL and pay a non-refundable application fee, yet they can only get a non-commercial Class C driver's license today.
California's alternative, ignoring federal rules and instead bowing to the Alameda County Superior Court, could have cost the state its ability to issue CDLs altogether.
The legal team behind the Doe v. DMV case didn't want California to lose its ability to issue CDLs, but nonetheless gave Overdrive this statement Friday pushing the state to re-issue the CDLs.
California has lost about $200 million already ($40 million for not enforcing English Language Proficiency and $158 million for blowing through a deadline to revoke wrongly-issued CDLs) for not going along with the federal "war on immigration," as the DMV called it.
[Related: California sees truck shortage as non-domiciled crackdown, ICE raids take hold]
Advocates for non-domiciled drivers have stressed how vital these workers are for moving America's freight, but so far California has only briefly reported a minor truck shortage, and the latest data shows adequate truck availability in the state.
