The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said that the federal government forced the cancelation of thousands of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).
Officials said that effective Friday, March 6, 2026, approximately 13,000 non-domiciled CDLs were cancelled due to requirements issued by the federal government.
All affected CDL holders have received notification that their licenses are cancelled, the California DMV said. These individuals must apply for a Class C license in order to continue to drive passenger cars.
The cancellation of the CDLs comes after the U.S. Department of Transportation and California clashed for months over stricter new federal standards for non-citizen truck drivers and the enforcement of new English Language Proficiency rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that a federal audit found that “more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs issued by California were issued unlawfully.” In January 2026, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) revoked $158 million in transportation funding for failure to cancel thousands of improperly issued CDLs by the given deadline.
Thousands of non-domiciled CDLs were set to be cancelled on January 5, 2026, due to an issue with improper expiration dates, but this date was pushed back to March 6 after multiple lawsuits were filed.
“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 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.”
In a news release, the California DMV pushed back against the federal government on behalf of those who lost their licenses:
“Non-domiciled individuals are those who do not have citizenship or lawful permanent resident status, and includes holders of various visas, refugees, and asylees. Federal law permits these individuals to obtain a CDL. Contrary to misleading statements by the Trump Administration, all the individuals issued non-domiciled CDLs by the DMV had been granted work authorization by the federal government and were legally present in the United States at the time their license was issued.
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. Given that the DMV is compliant with state and federal law, it is incumbent upon the federal government to allow the DMV to process those applications and issue licenses to eligible drivers.“
The California DMV also detailed the status of the legal issues that forced the cancelation of the CDLs.
From the DMV:
“Federal Court Rejects California DMV Request for Emergency Stay
The DMV previously sought to issue corrected CDLs to affected drivers, consistent with California and federal law, but was blocked from doing so by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied an emergency stay requested by the DMV that would have allowed DMV to reissue corrected non-domiciled CDLs to eligible individuals without the risk of retaliatory action by FMCSA.
The licenses of non-domiciled CDL holders not affected will remain valid until their current expiration date. However, these CDL holders will not be able to renew, get a replacement, or make any changes to their driver’s license.
Doe v. Department of Motor Vehicles
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. The decision requires DMV to allow those non-domiciled CDL holders who received a cancellation letter to reapply for a CDL following cancellation of their license. 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.” All applications will remain pending for a maximum of one year until the DMV determines it can act on them.“
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