Lawyers working on behalf of several Sikh groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the California Department of Motor Vehicles in an effort to halt the cancellation of roughly 20,000 commercial drivers licenses.

The lawsuit — filed in Alameda County by the Asian Law Caucus, Sikh Coalition and the lawfirm Weil, Gotshal and Manges — alleges the state violated the truckers’ due process when it notified them in November their commercial drivers licenses, or CDLS, will be downgraded as of Jan. 5.

The state said those licenses had been issued in error with mismatches between expiration dates for the license itself and the holder’s work eligibility.

A spokesperson for the DMV said in an email the department doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit alleges the mismatch is a clerical error on the state’s part, and rather than having their licenses canceled, drivers should be provided the opportunity to fix the problem without interruption in their licenses’ validity.

“Due process guarantees already exist in the vehicle code. There are already many instances where the code provides due process protections,” said Munmeeth Kaur, legal director for New York City-based Sikh Coalition, a national advocacy group that’s part of the lawsuit.

The state’s rule change came after the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered an immediate pause to the issuance of what are known as non-domiciled CDLs.

For years, those licenses were made available to a range of non-citizen residents including refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients.

But following several high-profile accidents involving non-domiciled CDLs, the Trump administration issued a rule-change in October limiting the scope of the licenses.

The federal government threatened to withhold $158 million from the state unless California took certain actions including an audit of its licenses.

The state sent letters to roughly 17,000 drivers in October, notifying them their CDL will expire Jan. 5.

Earlier this month, the DMV announced plans to restore some of the licenses set for cancellation but withdrew that decision following pressure from the Trump administration, according to San Francisco public radio station KQED 88.5 FM.

If the state goes through with the cancellation, local trucking industry officials say it will likely cause a trucker shortage with broad implications for the wider economy.

“We’ve got oil fields, we’ve got agriculture, but trucking is a main part of the city as well,” said Aman Singh, a member of the Bakersfield Trucking Association.

“On Jan. 5 their license is going to get downgraded and, pretty much, they’re not going to be able to drive, and some people will get heavily affected.”

In addition to the impacts to the economy, BTA members and other advocates say the rule change and the Trump administration’s focus on foreign-born drivers is creating a hostile environment.

“You’ve got social media and you’ve got the news channels out there that are stating that the foreign drivers are the bad drivers,” Singh said.

BTA doesn’t have an exact number of drivers in Kern County that will be impacted come Jan. 5, but estimates have ranged in the several thousands. Larger companies may be able to handle a loss of drivers, Singh said, but many smaller carriers may find themselves in a difficult position.

Bakersfield Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur, who has no relation to the Sikh Coalition attorney, comes from a family of truckers and has been involved with BTA and its efforts to seek relief. On Wednesday she said she was sincerely concerned about people losing their right to work.

“Our hope is that state leadership doesn’t let us down, doesn’t take jobs away from 20,000 people,” Kaur said. “We’re in the holiday season and there’s 20,000-plus families who are in limbo. This is like a moment of truth to see if those families will have any relief.”

“It’s a really tough position to be in,” Kaur said. “We’re really praying for those families.”