Sikh Coalition fight “devastating wave of unemployment” with lawsuit

American Sikh legal advocacy organization Sikh Coalition has filed a lawsuit against the state of California regarding the potential cancellation of possibly 20,000 trucker driving licenses, an issue arising out of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigration agenda.

Republic President Donald Trump’s government launched a crackdown on the commercial driving license (CDL) issuing process as part of its efforts to tackle illegal immigration, after fatal crashes involving allegedly illegal immigrant Sikh truckers resulted in stern focus on the migrant heavy industry earlier this year.

Read more on this here: US Assistant Attorney General condemns recent anti-Sikh attacks | SikhPA

On November 6th the California DMV notified 17,299 immigrant drivers and business owners that their non-domiciled CDLs would be canceled on January 5th 2026, due to an error with the expiration date of the licenses. A similar letter was sent to an additional 2,700 drivers in December, informing them that their licenses would be canceled in mid-February. The Sikh Coalition claim this decision was based on “pressure” from the Trump Administration.

The Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, along with the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, collaborated on the lawsuit, which was officially filed on 23rd December against the California Department of Motor Vehicles for terminating the commercial driver’s licenses of thousands of drivers, alleging that the decision violated their rights and threatened their livelihood.

“This class-action lawsuit is brought on behalf of the Jakara Movement and five commercial drivers who have been deprived of their rights and livelihoods,” a joint statement from the Asian Law Caucus and Sikh Coalition said. “According to reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED, California state officials communicated they would begin reissuing licenses on December 17. Despite these public assurances, the state has neither reissued any of the contested licenses nor created a process to remedy the date issue with no indication that it plans to do so before January 5.”

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of Sikh California based community group Jakara Movement, who are representing five drivers in the state. However, the lawsuit also claims that there are recipients of cancellation letters whose CDLs are seemingly in compliance, even highlighting instances of Sikh truckers being unfairly pressured into giving up CDLs on-the-spot by DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) staff.

See the Sikh Coalition statement on their lawsuit here.

Further, the lawsuit claims that the “DMV has not explained how it identified 19,999 licenses as out of compliance with state law and how it can ensure that its determinations are accurate”, which suggests possible foul play in an attempt to legitimize the targeting of as many truckers as possible in California.

According to the LA Times, this will disproportionately impact Sikh communities, who are described by the media outlet as “a pillar of the trucking industry” of the USA. According to media reports, there are around 750,000 Punjabi Sikhs in the United States. Of those, about 150,000 work in the trucking industry, with the majority based on the West Coast. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy singled out California for issuing commercial driver’s licenses to what his department says are unqualified immigrant truckers that put lives on the road in danger. According to local reports, many truckers quit the industry after the introduction of enhanced English proficiency tests this year. Policy changes regarding noncitizen commercial licenses and English-language proficiency enforcement could remove more than 400,000 commercial drivers from the market over the next three years, according to J.B. Hunt, one of the largest trucking companies.

The lawsuit is calling on the judge to issue a writ of mandate, preliminary injunction or permanent injunction that would require the California DMV to ensure that the plaintiffs and those that fall under the class action are able to obtain a corrected CDL “without interruption to their driving privileges.”

Within a week the lawsuit saw a successful impact, with extensions being issued to all who faced the 5th January cancellation. The long-term battle for stability for the targeted truckers continues though. The official reason for the cancellation of 20,000 CDLs in California is due to a federal audit which found the licenses issued to immigrant drivers were set to expire after the time they were legally allowed to remain in the U.S. The DMV is required to set the expiration date for a CDL given to an immigrant on either the same day or before the expiration of the driver’s work authorization or legal presence documents, according to the lawsuit. However, the lawsuit alleges that the DMV letters violated California procedure, which would require the department to either cancel the license without prejudice or change the expiration date.

Ever since the national spotlight hit the Sikh trucking sector, as well as being targeted through policy, American Sikh truckers are reporting a drastic increase in targeted abuse and hate crimes on-the-ground too, underlining just what a tense time it is for the thousands of Sikhs in the industry. Outside of California, countless more American Sikhs are also facing similar issues, many likely without the support being offered by Sikh Coalition.

A phoneline for Sikh truckers with issues to find legal support has been opened by Sikh Coalition. Find it here.

The Sikh Press Association will provide updates on this situation as they come in.