In a somewhat unusual move, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, filed the lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court. Although most claims that appear before the bench are first heard by lower courts, the justices can choose to intervene in disputes between states.
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Florida against California and Washington, claiming that the two Democrat-run states let undocumented immigrants obtain commercial truck driver’s licenses.
According to NBC News, Florida’s lawsuit was filed in the aftermath of a high-profile crash that took place last year. In that incident, an Indian national was involved in a fatal accident that left three dead. Investigators believe that the driver of the truck, Harjinder Singh, made an illegal U-turn directly into the way of oncoming traffic.
In legal filings, Florida said that Singh did not have legal status in the United States but was nonetheless issued licenses in both California and Washington state. Singh, notes NBC News, is also facing criminal charges in Florida.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, denied Florida’s appeal to continue the lawsuit. It did not issue any comment on its decision, though Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a separate opinion saying that he would have heard the case. Thomas’s opinion was joined by Justice Samuel Alito, another of the bench’s conservatives.
“This court declines to even hear Florida’s claims, even though it has nowhere else to bring them,” Thomas wrote.
In a somewhat unusual move, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, filed the lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court. Although most claims that appear before the bench are first heard by lower courts, the justices can choose to intervene in disputes between states.
Uthmeier, in court filings, argued that the defendant-states are engaged in “open defiance” of federal immigration laws, leading them to flout regulations intended to protect the public. This has allegedly led to drivers obtaining licenses without having “proper training or the ability to read road signs” in English. In some cases, these drivers cross state lines, putting residents of other states at-risk.
In response, Washington Attorney General Nicholas Brown said that there is no legal basis for Florida’s filing with the Supreme Court. Instead, Brown described the filing as a “political stunt, not a real claim,” noting that Uthmeier announced the case during an appearance on Fox News.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office earlier said that the state Department of Motor Vehicles issued Singh a non-domiciled driver’s license in accordance with state and federal regulations. At the time of his application, Singh purportedly provided an employment authorization document, the validity of which was verified through a federal database.
“The allegations in the proposed complaint are notably lacking, as Florida admits that it does not even know how California’s commercial driver’s license program works,” Bonta said. “Its claims are based on assumptions about California law and practice that are wrong: DMV requires verification of legal presence and tests for English language proficiency before issuing commercial driver’s licenses.”
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