The Trump administration has confirmed that California issued a driver’s license to an illegal alien charged in a DUI crash that killed three people.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the individual in question entered the U.S. in 2022, and that the Department of Transportation would be cracking down on licenses being granted to people “[…] who clearly do not deserve to hold these positions.”
The suspect, Jashanpreet Singh, was caught and released after crossing the border in 2022, under the Biden administration. Homeland Security’s assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated: “It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the US and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways.”
McLaughlin also remarked, “There is no national CDL. The state of California issued this illegal alien Commercial Drivers License, which is beyond dumb — dangerous and deadly.” California Governor Gavin Newsom has attempted to deflect blame to the federal government.
In fact, California upgraded Singh’s CDL despite an emergency rule issued by the Department of Transportation on September 26th, intended to verify applicants’ legal status. As it does on most immigration policies, the state government operated in direct defiance of federal law.
In addition to disregarding the Department of Transportation’s guidance on this issue, California has not enforced English-proficiency requirements for truck drivers. The state issues driver’s licenses regardless of someone’s legal status, claiming that it allows people to work and travel safely. The safety of others, of course, comes second to California Democrats’ liberal ethnic patronage politics.
This is not the first time this year that an illegal alien with a California CDL was involved in a fatal crash. Harjinder Singh also killed three people while making an illegal U-Turn in August. Singh had previously failed an English-proficiency test.
California Democrats could certainly adjust current policies to avert similar future tragedies. That would involve admitting that open immigration has downsides, though, which is not something they are capable of doing.
