“By recklessly issuing commercial drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants, Gavin Newsom is not only breaking federal law, he’s putting jobs and lives of U.S. citizens at risk.” – Assemblymember Carl DeMaio
California State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio today introduced legislation to prohibit Gov. Gavin Newsom from implementing a reckless policy that directs the DMV to issue commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in violation of federal law.
DeMaio says immediate action on his bill is needed, as the US Department of Transportation last week threatened to suspend all commercial driver’s licenses being issued by the state of California. DeMaio says that move could destroy thousands of truck driver jobs in our state.
“Several tragic truck accidents have killed US citizens because Gavin Newsom gave illegal immigrants commercial drivers’ licenses in violation of federal law,” DeMaio noted.
“Now thousands of jobs in CA will be destroyed as the US DOT threatens to suspend ALL CDLs issued by our state – all because Gavin Newsom is defending this dangerous policy to score cheap political points,” DeMaio added.
DeMaio’s bill requires the DMV to verify lawful presence through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program before issuing or renewing a commercial driver’s license. Applications that cannot be verified must be denied, and licenses later determined to have been improperly issued must be revoked following due process.
Commercial driver’s licenses authorize individuals to operate large, heavy vehicles capable of causing catastrophic harm. Yet under Governor Gavin Newsom, California has failed to enforce basic verification requirements, allowing thousands of licenses to be issued without confirming eligibility.
That failure has not been theoretical. In a recent California incident, a commercial truck driver unlawfully present in the United States and holding a California-issued CDL caused a multi-vehicle crash that killed multiple people and seriously injured others. The driver was later charged with serious felony offenses, including gross vehicular manslaughter.
Federal transportation officials subsequently found California out of compliance with federal CDL standards, forcing the state to revoke approximately 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses that had been improperly issued.
“Commercial driver’s licenses are not symbolic documents — they authorize the operation of vehicles that can kill when safeguards fail,” DeMaio said. “This bill fixes a problem Sacramento created and restores common sense to a system that should never have been compromised.”
DeMaio’s legislation aligns California law with federal requirements, preserves federally authorized exceptions, and would be implemented through existing DMV procedures without new taxes or mandates.
“This is straightforward,” DeMaio said. “If you are legally authorized to be here, you can qualify. If you are not, you should not be entrusted with a commercial license. Public safety has to come first.”