California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has acknowledged that an illegal immigrant who has been charged with killing three people in a DUI crash had a California Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
Newsom’s office acknowledged that Jashanpreet Singh had a California CDL in a statement to Fox News.
Driving the news: Singh has been charged with driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed three people in Ontario.
- He allegedly drove his truck into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10. Police said Singh did not hit the brakes before crashing.
- According to the White House, Singh entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration.
What they’re saying: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the media on Thursday that California issued a CDL to Singh.
- Newsom’s office issued the following statement to Fox News after Leavitt’s comments, blaming the federal government despite the fact that the work permit was granted under the Biden administration: “This is a tragic situation. And as with every tragedy over the last ten months, Secretary Noem has ordered Secretary Duffy to look for every opportunity to manipulate the facts to score cheap political points, but the FEDERAL government needs to look within before they cast blame outside. The FEDERAL government approved and renewed this individual’s FEDERAL employment authorization multiple times – which allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in accordance with FEDERAL law.”
Flashback: This is the second time in recent months that California has come under fire for an illegal immigrant from India who has been working as a truck driver.
- Harjinder Singh was arrested in Stockton in August and was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide for allegedly attempting an unauthorized U-turn in Florida.
- That illegal U-turn resulted in a crash that killed three people.
- The Trump administration stated that Harjinder Singh had his work authorization initially rejected during Trump’s first administration and later approved by the Biden administration.
- In response to the crash and fallout, the Trump administration yanked $40 million in highway safety funds from the Golden State for the state’s failure to adhere to English proficiency requirements for truck drivers obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.
