Top Florida officials announced a lawsuit against the state of California over a high-profile triple fatality crash that occurred on the Florida Turnpike in August 2025.
On October 15, Florida Attorney General (AG) James Uthmeier announced a lawsuit against Governor Gavin Newsom and the state of California over “sanctuary policies” involving commercial vehicle drivers that he says put Floridians at risk.
In a statement released on X.com, Uthmeier blames California for an August 12 triple fatality crash on the Florida Turnpike during which truck driver Harjinder Singh allegedly attempted to execute a U-Turn in an unauthorized location, causing a minivan to crash into the truck’s trailer, resulting in the deaths of all three people in the minivan.
Uthmeier says that California should be held accountable for improperly issuing Singh a CDL when he was not qualified due to his immigration status.
Uthmeier said that he will “argue in the U.S. Supreme Court that Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies are having a detrimental impact on Floridians and leading to increased costs on tax payers and unnecessary, tragic deaths.”
The Florida AG further accused California of upholding policies that “allow unsafe drivers on the road who don’t know English behind the wheel of 40-ton trucks.”
Uthmeier also pointed to the fact Florida is currently performing language checks on CDL drivers at agriculture checkpoints and weigh stations in an effort to comply with an Executive Order issued by the Trump Administration calling for increased enforcement of English proficiency rules for truck drivers.
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The news of Florida’s lawsuit against California comes the same day as the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its decision to withhold $40 million in funding from the state for failure to enforce new English Language Proficiency rules.