FRESNO — In the corner of Sammy Gill’s sprawling Fresno truck yard, among other gargantuan rigs with 20-plus-inch rims, a bright red 2022 Mack Anthem sits idle. The truck hasn’t moved since mid-November — not because it’s broken down, but because its owner, an immigrant driver, had his commercial driver’s license canceled under a state crackdown whose timing — and reach — remains unsettled.
“Beautiful truck,” said Gill, who co-owns Gill Freightways Solutions Inc., a trucking company that hauls refrigerated trailers, or reefers. “But (he) can’t drive it.”
The driver is one of thousands of immigrant truckers caught in a widening enforcement push targeting non-domiciled commercial licenses — held by drivers who are not U.S. citizens but have valid work authorization — an enforcement action California announced under pressure from the U.S. Department of Transportation, then partially paused after a legal challenge this week, even as federal officials insist enforcement should already be underway…