Supreme Court Rejects CDL Lawsuit: Immigrant Driver Rules Intact

S. Supreme Court rejected Florida's attempt to overturn California and Washington's commercial driver license policies for undocumented immigrants, marking a significant development in the ongoing tension between immigration enforcement and trucking workforce accessibility. The decision leaves existing CDL licensing frameworks in place across both states, though the broader debate over English-language proficiency requirements, immigration status verification, and interstate consistency continues to roil the trucking industry. This ruling maintains the status quo but does not resolve the underlying regulatory fragmentation that continues to challenge motor carriers operating across multiple jurisdictions.

The case originated from a fatal August 2025 crash on Florida's Turnpike involving a California-licensed truck driver from India, which prompted Florida's Attorney General to sue both states for allegedly violating federal safety and immigration standards. The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case as an original action between states—a rare procedure that bypasses lower courts—leaves unanswered critical questions about federal authority, state autonomy, and minimum safety standards for commercial drivers. Notably, the Trump administration's Department of Transportation has simultaneously pursued stricter immigration-related CDL restrictions, though a federal appeals court recently blocked one such proposal, creating an environment of regulatory uncertainty. For supply chain and logistics professionals, this decision signals that the patchwork of state-level CDL policies will persist, requiring carriers to maintain compliance frameworks that vary by jurisdiction.

The withheld federal funding threat (California faced ~$40 million in potential sanctions over English-language requirements) and the ongoing litigation indicate this is not a settled matter—future administrations, court rulings, or congressional action could dramatically reshape driver hiring and training protocols. Organizations should monitor developments in federal DOT enforcement actions and track state-level licensing policy changes as risk factors affecting workforce recruitment, training costs, and operational continuity.