By The News Service of Florida
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Florida’s request to prevent California and Washington from issuing licenses to commercial truck drivers who are not in the country legally.
While the court didn’t outline its reasons for the dismissal, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote a separate opinion in dissent. Thomas noted, “We cannot refuse to hear suits between States,” and that Florida “has nowhere else to bring” its claims.
Florida filed the suit two months after semi-tractor trailer driver Harjinder Singh, a native of India, was arrested in August following a crash that stemmed from him allegedly attempting a U-turn on the turnpike in St. Lucie County. The crash resulted in three deaths. Singh was an employee of a California-based trucking company.
The lawsuit alleged California and Washington have not complied with federal safety and immigration status requirements in issuing commercial driver’s licenses. It argued those states “chose to ignore these standards and authorize illegal immigrants without proper training or the ability to read road signs to drive commercial motor vehicles.”
“California’s and Washington’s decision to endanger their own citizens is reprehensible,” the lawsuit said. “But commercial drivers routinely cross state lines, endangering citizens of other states.”
On February 6, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles started administering driver’s license tests only in English. Exams for most non-commercial driver classifications had been offered in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
During the regular legislative session, an effort failed (SB 86 and HB 1247) that sought to require law enforcement officers to take into custody truck drivers determined to be undocumented immigrants and transfer them to federal immigration officials. The measure also would have required impounding trucks and imposing a $50,000 fine on the vehicles’ owners.
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