Florida sues ‘sanctuary states’ over trucker policies after illegal immigrant kills three

The move comes in the wake of a devastating Florida highway crash in August that killed three people, allegedly caused by Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant truck driver who failed a post-crash English proficiency exam but was still licensed by Washington, a self-declared “sanctuary state.”

The 73-page Bill of Complaint alleges that both Washington and California have “openly defied federal safety and immigration standards” by issuing CDLs to individuals who are not lawfully present in the US and often cannot speak or read English. Florida argues this defiance has turned American highways into a “lawless frontier” of unqualified drivers.

The tragedy that prompted the lawsuit occurred when Singh attempted a U-turn across a Florida highway, blocking multiple lanes and causing a deadly collision with a minivan. Three passengers were killed.

After the crash, federal investigators found that Singh could only identify one of four road signs and correctly answer just two of twelve questions in an English Language Proficiency (ELP) test, despite holding a Washington-issued full-term CDL.

According to the Florida filing, Singh failed thirteen previous driving exams before Washington’s Department of Licensing (DOL) issued him the CDL in July 2023. California later issued him a non-domiciled CDL in 2024, even though he was not legally eligible for one under federal law.

“The result was three fatalities,” the complaint states, adding that Washington and California “authorized illegal immigrants without proper training or the ability to read road signs to drive commercial motor vehicles,” in violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also taken steps to pressure California to comply with English language requirements for truckers.

He announced last week that the Trump administration would be pulling $40 million in federal funding to California over the state not abiding by existing laws for commercial truck drivers and English proficiency.

At the time of the crash in Florida, Duffy slammed the actions of sanctuary states in a blistering statement, laying direct blame on Washington and New Mexico for the failures that led to the Florida crash. He posted at the time, “Washington State improperly issued the driver a full-term CDL. Asylum seekers or illegal aliens are NOT allowed to receive this!”

He continued, “States MUST FOLLOW THE RULES. If they had, this driver would NEVER have been behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us.”

Duffy added that the Department of Transportation, under President Trump, has ordered a full audit of state CDL programs and will move to cut federal funding from states that continue issuing licenses to illegal immigrants.

“The failures here are despicable,” he said. “Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier.”

Florida’s lawsuit cites Washington’s 2019 “Keep Washington Working Act,” which prohibits state agencies, including the Department of Licensing, from inquiring about a driver’s immigration or citizenship status.

As a result, the Washington DOL issued CDLs to 685 individuals who failed to prove citizenship or lawful residency between 2018 and 2025. The agency admitted the error after Singh’s crash but has not changed the sanctuary law itself.

Washington also failed to enforce basic English-language standards: over a three-month period in 2025, the state conducted 6,000 truck inspections but only removed four drivers for English violations.

The Singh case echoes the earlier Skyline CDL School scandal, which revealed that scores of unqualified drivers received CDLs through a bribery ring involving Skyline’s branches in Auburn, Washington, and Vancouver, Oregon.

Investigators found that 80 percent of Skyline’s graduates failed re-tests when ordered to prove their qualifications, and that some drivers never tested at all. State documents accused Skyline of using unqualified instructors, falsifying records, and bypassing English proficiency requirements, the same standards now central to Florida’s lawsuit against Washington.

Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier argues that the sanctuary laws in both states directly conflict with federal statutes requiring states to verify citizenship and English competency before issuing CDLs.

“The sanctuary laws are expressly preempted,” the complaint asserts, calling Washington and California’s conduct a “public nuisance” that endangers all states.

The lawsuit asks the Supreme Court to declare both states’ sanctuary CDL laws unconstitutional, enjoin them from issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants, order them to pay Florida’s legal costs, and mandate compliance with federal CDL verification and English-language standards.

Florida argues that California and Washington’s defiance has already cost American lives and forced law-abiding states to shoulder the costs of increased inspections and enforcement.