A group of immigrant truckers sued California’s Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, alleging the state violated thousands of workers’ rights when officials took action to revoke their commercial driver’s licenses.
California officials said last month that the state notified about 17,000 truckers that their commercial driver’s licenses would be revoked due to expiration dates that went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S. That number has since grown to 21,000.
The state’s plan to revoke the truckers’ licenses violates their due process rights and threatens their livelihoods, the groups allege. They’re asking the Alameda County Superior Court to pause the license cancellations.
The Sikh Coalition, a national group defending the civil rights of Sikhs, and the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the California drivers. Munmeeth Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s legal director, stated, These drivers have spent years anchoring their lives to these careers, only to now face potential economic ruin through no fault of their own — they deserve better, and California must do better.
The lawsuit comes amid heightened national scrutiny over immigrant truck drivers following several major accidents reportedly involving unauthorized drivers. In one such incident, a tractor-trailer driver caused a fatal crash in Florida, raising concerns about the regulation of immigrant truckers.
The California DMV has indicated it does not comment on pending litigation, leaving questions about the future of these drivers uncertain.
