BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — California's Department of Motor Vehicles is under fire again after mistakenly issuing Real IDs with incorrect expiration dates to approximately 325,000 legal non-citizen residents, marking the second major licensing error in recent months.
The problem stems from a legacy computer system implemented in 2006, shortly after President George W. Bush signed the Real ID Act. The system verified federal legal status but gave legal non-citizen residents of California the standard expiration date instead of an expiration date that coincides with their residency's expiration date.
This means some legal immigrants received Real IDs that did not expire at the same time as their authorization to remain in the country.
The DMV said it's working to notify the approximately 325,000 ID holders who are affected. The office will expedite processing and waive fees related to this issue, and has implemented safeguards to prevent this from recurring.
The error comes just one month after a similar problem with commercial licenses issued to immigrant truck drivers. A federal audit found that many commercial licenses issued to immigrant drivers were set to expire long past the duration of immigrant truckers' legal stay in the U.S.
The DMV initially said it would revoke those licenses by January 5. However, several trucker groups, including the Sikh Coalition, filed a lawsuit against the DMV, claiming the revocation violated their rights and threatened their livelihood. The DMV has since backed down and extended the driver's licenses to March 6.
When I asked the DMV if the two issues stem from the same software problem, what deadline exists for license replacement, whether unreplaced licenses become invalid, and what safeguards were implemented, a spokesperson responded: "We need to refer you to the release at this time."
The DMV said in the release that at no point were undocumented individuals issued Real IDs, and the issue was limited solely to how expiration dates were calculated for some of California's non-citizen residents with legal presence.
The agency also noted that the DMV will never call, text, or email you for personal information to resolve this issue. If you need to verify any DMV action, call 1-800-777-0133.
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