Yet another horrific crash involving a trucker said to be in this country illegally has left three people dead, at least four others injured and adds fuel to the national debate over who’s driving trucks on U.S. highways.
The entire multi-vehicle, chain-reaction collision occurred Tuesday on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, California, and was captured on the dash cam in the truck that caused the crash as it happened.
See the video below.
KABC reports the driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh from Yuba City, California, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. The Los Angeles-based TV station also said a law enforcement source confirmed Singh was in the U.S. illegally having entered the country in 2022.
The dramatic dash cam footage shows Singh’s tractor-trailer slamming into the back of an SUV and eventually involving seven other vehicles, including at least two other tractor-trailers.
It didn’t take long for the crash to turn political. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy took to social media to reiterate Trump administration talking points condemning California and other states granting commercial driver’s licenses to people in the county illegally.
In a post on X, Duffy said,”This is exactly why @USDOT has withheld $40 MILLION from California for failure to comply with our rules to protect drivers. We cannot allow our roads to be a dangerous place!”
Duffy has led the charge against states issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants since a Florida tractor-trailer crash in early August caused the deaths of three people traveling in a minivan. In that crash, another Indian national who entered the U.S. illegally was attempting a u-turn on the Florida Turnpike when the minivan struck his trailer.
That crash sparked debate over English language proficiency by drivers, as well as a crackdown on states issuing CDL to non-domiciled drivers. It also inspired increased enforcement of language requirements.
That Florida crash also led three Republican senators to introduce a new piece of legislation that would, if signed into law, expressly prohibit states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to people from other countries in the U.D. without proper documentation.
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