CLARO Statement Condemning Federal Block on Commercial Licenses for Work-Authorized Immigrant Drivers
The Center for Latino Advocacy, Resources, and Organizing (CLARO) condemns the Trump Administration’s effort to strip work-authorized immigrant Californians—many of them asylum seekers and DACA recipients—of the ability to earn a living as commercial drivers.
By blocking California from resuming the issuance and correction of commercial driver’s licenses for eligible “non-domicile” drivers, the federal government is punishing families and destabilizing essential work. Thousands of California drivers have received cancellation notices despite holding valid federal work authorization, leaving them and their families in limbo during the holiday season.
Let’s be clear: commercial drivers keep our economy moving. Our supply chains don’t function if food doesn’t arrive, goods don’t move, and communities don’t stay connected without professional drivers. Pushing experienced, tested, and licensed drivers out of the workforce does not improve safety; it creates chaos, invites exploitation, and pressures workers into impossible choices. This also invites autonomous vehicle companies to use this disruption to accelerate job elimination and weaken labor standards by replacing experienced drivers with automation before strong worker protections and public accountability are in place.
CLARO calls on the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to:
Immediately allow California to reissue and correct CDLs for eligible drivers who can demonstrate current lawful presence and valid work authorization.
End blanket, politicized targeting of “non-domicile” CDL holders and replace it with clear, transparent standards and individualized due process.
Provide public clarity on what fixes have been rejected, why they were rejected, and what specific steps must be completed—so drivers aren’t trapped in uncertainty.
CLARO stands in solidarity with immigrant drivers: Latino, Punjabi/Sikh, and all communities impacted who have followed the rules, passed the exams, and are contributing to California’s economy while their immigration cases proceed through lawful processes.
We will continue working with worker-rights organizations, legal partners, community advocates, and state leaders to demand a fair resolution that protects both road safety and basic economic dignity, and we urge elected officials at every level to treat immigrant workers as essential members of our communities, not political targets.
