The horrific crash in August on the Florida Turnpike, where a truck driver, later found to be an illegal immigrant who could barely speak English and could not read road signs, shocked the nation and brought the question of just exactly who is driving 18-wheelers across the country into sharp focus. Here at RedState, we have been following this case and, sadly, many others like it, as it affects anyone traveling on America's interstates. Now, one state attorney general has had enough and is holding the state where many of these truckers get their licenses accountable.
Tonight, we filed a lawsuit against Gavin Newsom and California in the US Supreme Court because their so-called “sanctuary” policies for illegal aliens are harming states like Florida.
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) October 16, 2025
California must pay for the carnage of their open border policies and unlawful CDL programs. pic.twitter.com/iEauMlWXkY
Late on Wednesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state against California and Washington, which will take the case directly to the Supreme Court. The lawsuit is in response to what Uthmeier called “dangerous sanctuary state policies," which enabled the driver in the Florida crash to obtain his commercial driver's license (CDL). The Florida crash also got the attention of Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who has directed the Department to withhold $40 million in funding from California. The primary reason: failure to enforce English proficiency requirements for truck drivers.
During an appearance with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening after filing the lawsuit, Uthmeier explained that California agencies are barred from inquiring about immigration status. It's those kinds of reckless policies that allowed 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, to enter the country through the southern border. He obtained CDL licenses in both California and Washington, drove across the country, unable to read road signs, and caused the Florida Turnpike crash.
Uthmeier said to Hannity about the lawsuit:
It’s a shame, and that’s why we’re taking Gavin Newsom to the Supreme Court tonight. We filed a lawsuit against California on behalf of Florida to hold them accountable for the carnage that their sanctuary illegal immigration policies have caused. We can do everything right. But we still suffer when Gavin Newsom and liberals on the West Coast allow these illegals in. They encourage them, enable them to get these driver’s licenses, and then they cross the country and ultimately take lives.
For everyone’s safety, you must be able to read and understand English road signs when operating a commercial vehicle. This common sense bill requires commercial drivers to pass an English-only test. https://t.co/i5Z8ItMnlE
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) October 16, 2025
Since the crash, Florida has implemented new immigration enforcement policies that focus on addressing any weaknesses when it comes to drivers on Florida highways. An inspection station on Interstate 10 has begun intercepting illegal immigrants with driver's licenses from other states. Agricultural inspection sites are also getting involved, having turned over nearly 150 illegal immigrants. But Florida is not California Gov. Gavin Newsom's biggest problem. At the end of September, Sean Duffy put the hammer down on California, stating they had 30 days to come into compliance with Federal regulations regarding the issuing of CDL licenses, or risk losing roughly $160 million in highway funds.
DIG DEEPER: Transportation Secretary Duffy Exposes Massive CDL Scam for Illegals
The inspection station apprehensions are a good start. But what happens when word gets out that apprehension is what is going on at the weigh station? An Oklahoma farmer stood in his cotton field, which is adjacent to one of those weigh stations in the western part of the state, and recorded what happened. He explains that truckers get off the interstate at the exit before the station, and use back and side roads that run along his field, to get to the next interstate on-ramp, where they get back on the highway. He goes on to say that this may still be a problem for any illegal immigrant truckers, because the weigh stations also have a lot of cameras.
Harjinder Singh has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations, and is being held without bond. But that is not enough for Attorney General James Uthmeier. During his interview with Hannity, he said it best,
They are knowingly aware of the dangers that their policies cause. They know that by giving people these truckers licenses who don’t speak English, they’re putting families on the road in jeopardy. Lives are lost. They know about it. They need to be held responsible.
Cotton farmer from western Oklahoma records the illegal alien truck drivers now taking back road detours around weigh stations. pic.twitter.com/UCHp0dMDfy
— American Truckers 🚛🦅 (@atutruckers) October 6, 2025
The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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