Gov. Ron DeSantis called it a “mistake” for the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to deny Florida’s request to prevent California and Washington from issuing licenses to commercial truck drivers who are not in the country legally.
“We really deserved to have our day in court on that,” DeSantis said Friday during an appearance at the Florida Highway Patrol Troop L facility in Davie.
While the court didn’t outline its reasons for the dismissal, DeSantis said he agreed with Justice Clarence Thomas, who was joined by Justice Samuel Alito, in writing a separate opinion that the court should have heard the suit.
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.