The lawsuit comes after a truck driver who could not understand English was involved in a three-fatality accident on a Florida highway.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said his state is suing California and Washington state over their policy of allegedly ignoring federal rules regarding the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
The new lawsuit comes weeks after the federal government unveiled stricter criteria for the issuance of CDLs.
Uthmeier made the statement on his official website on Oct. 16, indicating that the lawsuit has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court has not yet docketed the lawsuit.
The Constitution gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction, or authority, to try disputes between the states as a court of first impression. In such cases, the court often appoints a judicial officer called a special master to hear the case and issue a recommendation to the justices on how to rule.
“California’s and Washington’s open defiance of federal immigration laws is well-documented,” Florida’s proposed bill of complaint reads.
Florida’s acting solicitor general, Jeffrey DeSousa, said in the document, “Both States routinely frustrate and hinder federal law enforcement from addressing the immigration crisis and the destruction that accompanies it.”
Federal law provides that states issuing CDLs adhere to safety and immigration status standards, but California and Washington “ignore these standards and authorize illegal immigrants without proper training or the ability to read road signs to drive commercial motor vehicles,” the document states.
The two states are endangering citizens in their own states and other states that obey federal law and adhere to CDL safety standards, according to the complaint.
Florida became the “most recent victim” when an illegal immigrant licensed by both California and Washington and driving an 18-wheeler initiated a U-turn across a busy Florida highway that led to three fatalities. The driver could neither read nor speak English, the document states.
DeSousa was referring to the Aug. 12 incident in which Harjinder Singh, a native of India, made an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike. A minivan containing three occupants could not avoid the truck’s trailer as it stretched across the lanes.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said Singh came to the United States unlawfully in 2018 and was able to get a CDL in California. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that Washington state had previously issued him a CDL, even though illegal immigrants—or those seeking asylum—are not supposed to be eligible to receive one.
Congress created an “extensive regulatory scheme governing CDLs” because it recognized the “ubiquity, and danger, of commercial motor vehicles,” according to the proposed bill of complaint.
