The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Florida’s attempt to sue California and Washington over the issuance of commercial driver licenses (CDLs) to immigrants who are not legally authorized to be in the U.S., according to the Associated Press and media reports.
The ruling ends — at least for now — a closely watched legal battle tied to trucking safety and immigration enforcement.
The case stemmed from a deadly crash on Florida’s Turnpike in August 2025 involving Harjinder Singh, a truck driver from India accused of making an illegal U-turn that caused a wreck killing three people, according to court filings and news reports.
Singh reportedly held a valid CDL issued by California and had previously been licensed in Washington state.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed the lawsuit in October, arguing California and Washington violated federal safety and immigration laws by issuing CDLs to undocumented immigrants.
The lawsuit alleged the 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.”
Florida sought an injunction barring the two states from issuing commercial learner permits and CDLs to applicants who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
In its decision on Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to take up the lawsuit as an original action between states, a rare legal procedure that bypasses lower federal courts. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, arguing the court is obligated to hear disputes between states.
The dispute became part of a broader political fight between Republican-led states and Democratic-led states over immigration enforcement and commercial vehicle safety standards.
Florida’s lawsuit also arrived amid growing scrutiny of English-language proficiency requirements for truck drivers. In August 2025, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned California, Washington and New Mexico they could lose federal funding if they failed to enforce English-language requirements for commercial drivers.
California later faced roughly $40 million in withheld federal funds tied to the issue, according to CBS News.
Separately, a federal appeals court recently blocked a Trump administration proposal that would have imposed stricter immigration-related limits on who can obtain CDLs for operating semitrailers and buses.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case leaves existing CDL licensing rules in California and Washington intact, while the broader debate over immigration status, English proficiency and interstate trucking safety continues across the freight industry.
The post Supreme Court rejects Florida lawsuit over immigrant truck driver CDLs appeared first on FreightWaves.
