Washington– The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Florida’s long-running attempt to sue California and Washington over issuing commercial driver’s licenses to truck drivers who do not speak English and are not permitted to be in the United States.
The case dates back to a plane crash in Florida last year Who killed three people. driver, Harjinder Singhaccused of making an illegal turn that caused the accident. Singh, who is from India, held a valid commercial driver’s license from California, which the state of Washington had previously granted.
Republican-led Florida accused Western states, led by Democrats, of openly defying immigration laws, and asked judges to rule that states lack the authority to issue CDL certificates to people who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents.
The Supreme Court usually hears appeals of lower court decisions, but it sometimes handles what are known as original lawsuits in which states sue each other in the nation’s highest court.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from Tuesday’s order, as they often do when a court dismisses an original lawsuit, saying the court has no choice but to hear such cases.
Separately, a federal appeals court blocked the Trump administration’s proposal to impose it New restrictions This would severely limit immigrants’ access to commercial driver’s licenses to drive a semi-trailer truck or bus.