A man from India who entered the U.S. illegally is accused of killing three people while operating a semi-truck under the influence in California, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. After his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a detainer, so when local authorities are done with his criminal case, they can transfer him to ICE custody for possible deportation.
Jashanpreet Singh, 21, is charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence. In a video posted to social media, Singh was driving a big rig on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County, California, and crashed into slow-moving cars, causing the deadly accident. According to police, Singh did not try to slow down or stop his truck before crashing into eight other vehicles.
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DHS says he entered the United States illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022, and was living in Yuba City, California. Singh was allowed to enter and remain in the U.S. while his immigration case was pending.
Personal background and reactions
CBS Sacramento interviewed Singh’s close friend, Gurjot Malhar, on Wednesday night. Malhar told reporters that Singh moved to America hoping to build a better life for himself.
“He’s an amazing guy. He would talk normally, happily, always with love and care,” Malhar told CBS Sacramento. “Coming from India, it’s gonna be hard to make dollars here… So, he wanted to keep going.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the state of California gave Singh a commercial driver’s license (CDL). A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom called the situation “tragic.”
“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 spokeswoman told Fox News Digital.
“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,” she added.
Licensing and government response
According to the California Commercial Driver Handbook, anyone who wants to get, renew, upgrade or transfer a commercial learner’s permit (CLP) or a CDL must show official proof that they are legally allowed to be in the United States.
The federal government, under President Biden, granted Singh official permission to work legally in the U.S. Even though Singh had a federal work permit, that did not automatically qualify him to get a California CDL. The state decides who qualifies for a CDL, and having a work permit doesn’t guarantee that right.
According to DHS, there have been multiple recent incidents where people who are in the U.S. illegally were driving commercial vehicles and caused serious accidents or deaths. In a similar case in Florida in August, Harjinder Singh, a man who crossed the border illegally in 2018, was issued a California CDL and accused of causing a deadly crash in a semi-truck while attempting an illegal U-turn on a highway.
Leavitt said Thursday that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is “cracking down” on the wrongful issuance of licenses to people who shouldn’t be allowed to drive commercial vehicles.
Singh is expected to appear in a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom Friday.
