Democratic Party candidates for California governor said they would fight the Trump administration’s push to get California police officer’s to begin issuing English proficiency tests for big rig drivers in the state because it’s racist.

The warnings and fear expressed about implementing stricter regulations to ensure anyone with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) can understand American road signs came from Democrats during the first California gubernatorial debate since Eric Swalwell was forced to jump out of the race amid sexual misconduct allegations. It also follows efforts by the Trump administration to push states to become stricter around handing out CDLs and a slew of news headlines and Homeland Security reports highlighting fatal tractor trailer crashes by illegal immigrants who struggle to sufficiently speak English.

“Racial profiling is illegal. And, in fact, picking on people based on the color of their skin in the state of California, is illegal,” Democrat megadonor and billionaire businessman Tom Steyer said when asked if he would support a policy enforcing police to issue road-side language proficiency tests to truck drivers.

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Candidates for governor in California took to the debate stage for the first time since Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race amid sexual misconduct allegations. (Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Is that officer asking everyone he pulls over to explain those road signs? Or, is he asking only people who look like me? If he’s doing that, then he’s violating the law,” former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccera said, slamming a police officer in a short local news clip played at the outset of the question showing an officer issuing a field test to determine if a commercial driver who spoke Spanish could understand road signs.

Meanwhile, Republican California gubernatorial hopeful Sheriff Chad Bianco slammed his Democratic opponents for pulling the race card. 

“Let’s stop with this whole racism thing, and racial profiling and all of this garbage. We have to get over this. You either violated the law or you didn’t. End of story,” Bianco said. “Consequences for bad behavior.”

The Department of Transportation announced in October that it would withhold $40 million from California, arguing the state has failed to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards. 

The pulled funding came after an audit found that a pattern of states were issuing licenses illegally to foreigners, including through not ensuring drivers could speak sufficient English. In California alone, the audit claimed to have found, more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were improperly issued.

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In August, a fatal crash with an 18-wheeler driven by an illegal immigrant was caused after an illegal U-turn was made by the foreign driver. Subsequent investigations revealed the driver lacked English proficiency. “This is a devastating tragedy made even worse by the fact that it was totally preventable,” White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital at the time. “Illegal aliens that have no legal right to be in our country certainly should not be granted commercial drivers’ licenses.”

Bekzhan Beishekeev, a 30-year-old national of Kyrgyzstan, is allegedly involved in a crash that left four dead in Indiana. (Fox News/DHS)

In response to Bianco telling his Democrat colleagues to “stop with this whole racism thing,” Democratic candidate and former congresswoman from California Katie Porter said she was “stunned” he would say such a thing.

“I am stunned that Mr. Bianco would say to black and brown Californians and immigrants who are being terrorized and racially profiled that you have to ‘get over’ racism. It’s not something that you ‘get over, it’s something that you ‘fight.’ If he doesn’t understand the importance of that he has no business representing a state with the diversity of California,” Porter said when asked about whether she supported enforcing rules so that law enforcement will issue language proficiency tests to truck drivers.

Matt Mahan, the former mayor of San Jose, also said he would not support the policy, but he and Porter both suggested that the DMV could use some oversight.

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“No,” Mahan said when asked if he supported the policy to test truck drivers for language skills. “The right answer here, clearly, is to hold the DMV accountable for ensuring that every driver on our roadway meets the qualifications for the licenses they have. That is the appropriate entity to do this.”

When the moderator pressed Mahan for a clearer answer on whether he would support law enforcement checking truck drivers for language proficiency on the road, he dodged the question.

“It’s not about whether you speak English,” Mahan continued. “What the DMV is responsible for doing is not testing how good your English is, it’s whether or not you’re a safe driver who understands the rules.”

People walk through the rain outside the Arleta DMV office in California on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/The Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

“Protecting Californians also includes enforcing traffic laws and we’ve seen sometimes a need for oversight in California,” Porter also said. “For example, we have seen that the Department of Motor Vehicles was not enforcing rules about DUI’s and drivers who have convictions for that.”