Washington state violated federal safety rules when it granted a commercial driver’s licence to an illegal immigrant now accused of vehicular homicide in a deadly Florida car crash, and New Mexico State Police did not administer a required English Language Proficiency test during a traffic stop involving the same individual, a preliminary review from the Department of Transportation found.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that he had launched an investigation into an August 12 crash on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County, where a semi-truck driver allegedly made an illegal U-turn that caused a fatal collision with a minivan, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. Authorities have identified the driver of the truck as 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who crossed into the country in 2018.
End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships
A 37-year-old woman, a 54-year-old man, and a 30-year-old man died in the crash. Singh has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide. Duffy said the investigation by the feds would support Florida’s criminal investigation.
“If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us,” Duffy said. “This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures.”
Duffy said that the probe from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would focus on Singh and White Hawk Carriers, the California-based company that owned the truck involved in the crash, which has a history of safety violations.
Initial findings from the Department of Transportation indicate that Washington issued Singh a regular full-term Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) on July 15, 2023, even though illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are not eligible for such licenses.
California also issued Singh a limited-term/non-domiciled CDL on July 23, 2024. Duffy said that the issuance of this license was still under investigation to determine if it was done in accordance with federal law. The Trump administration and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom have clashed in recent days over responsibility for the fatal crash.
The investigation also found that Singh was pulled over by New Mexico State Police on July 3, and given a roadside inspection and speeding ticket. Investigators found that law enforcement did not administer an English Language Proficiency test despite being required to under Trump administration guidelines implemented on June 25.
When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interviewed Singh, officials found that he was not proficient in English and did not understand basic road signs. He could only provide correct responses on two out of twelve verbal questions and only identified one out of four highway traffic signs, investigators found.
“Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier, resulting in unqualified foreign drivers improperly acquiring licenses to operate 40-ton vehicles,” Duffy added. “We will use every tool at our disposal to hold these states and bad actors accountable. President Trump and I will restore safety to our roads. The families of the deceased deserve justice.”
