Newsom, Trump administration brawl escalates over 17,000 immigrant licenses
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California officials announced that the state will revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses given to immigrants, stoking Gov. Gavin Newsom's ongoing fight with the Trump administration.
Why it matters: President Trump's restrictive immigration policies are projected to have a dramatic impact on the American economy over the next few years.
- Newsom has been a major target of Trump and his administration's crackdown, which has included immigrants' use of these licenses before as well as the ICE raids in California.
Driving the news: Officials said Wednesday that the state would revoke the licenses after discovering the expiration dates went past when the drivers were legally allowed in the U.S.
- Newsom's office sparred with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over X, with Duffy threatening to "pull $160 million in federal funds" unless the state revokes "every illegally issued CDL."
What they're saying: Duffy said Wednesday that California revoking these licenses is an admission that it had fraudulently defended its licensing standards.
- "After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed," Duffy said in a statement. "Now that we've exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked."
Catch up quick: The Transportation Department tightened commercial licensing requirements in September, after three fatal crashes officials claimed were caused by immigrant truck drivers.
- Duffy said earlier this year that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver's licenses to immigrants, and revoked $40 million in federal funding from California, charging that the state wasn't enforcing English language requirements.
Reality check: California launched its review of its commercial driver's licenses after Duffy previously raised concerns, according to the Associated Press.
- Duffy announced new rules for licensing in September, but they weren't in place when the 17,000 California licenses were issued.
The other side: "Once again, the Sean 'Road Rules' Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his 'dear leader,'" Newsom's press team responded on X, seemingly referring to Trump.
- "He did, however, finally acknowledge that federal government issued these drivers work permits."
- Newsom's team also said that each of the 17,000 drivers had valid work authorizations from the federal government, but that the revocations were made because the licenses would expire after the drivers' legal statuses did, the Associated Press reported.
Between the lines: The Trump administration is making it harder for both blue collar and white collar immigrant workers to work in the United States.
