Duffy Ups Pressure on California After Latest Truck Crash
State Faces $160M in Lost Federal Funds and Revocation of CDL Issuance Authority, but Is Fighting Back
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is turning up the heat on California after another truck driver holding a non-domiciled commercial driver license issued by the state was involved in a fatal crash. But California is pushing back, insisting that it was federal regulators that approved the driver’s work status in the country.
“California broke the law and now three people are dead and two are hospitalized,” Duffy stated in an Oct. 24 release. “These people deserve justice. There will be consequences.” Pointing specifically to the state’s leader, Duffy added, “It would have never happened if [Gov.] Gavin Newsom had followed our new rules.”
A 21-year-old truck driver named Jashanpreet Singh was arrested by California Highway Patrol on Oct. 21 on suspicion of driving under the influence after being involved in the fiery crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario. In addition to the three killed and two hospitalized, two more were injured. Singh is from India and was living in Yuba City, Calif.
California knew the rules. They PROMISED they would comply.
They illegally upgraded this foreigner’s license anyway.
Now innocent three souls are gone.
Newsom lies, people die. — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
Per the DOT release, California on June 27 issued him a restricted CDL and classified him as an asylum-seeker. U.S. ϳԹland Security officials on Oct. 23 alleged that Singh is in the country illegally, per an Associated Press report.
Duffy — who has already withheld $40 million in federal funding from California on the grounds that it is not following federal CDL rules — is threatening further action against the state.
A 21-year-old truck driver named Jashanpreet Singh was arrested by California Highway Patrol on Oct. 21 on suspicion of driving under the influence after being involved in the fiery crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario. (San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit via AP)
“They’re at the cusp of losing $160 million,” he told Fox News on Oct. 24. “I don’t want to take their money, but we will hold their money back if they don’t comply with these really important rules.” A day earlier, he told the network that revoking the state’s ability to issue commercial driver licenses was a possibility. “We have to use every tool in the toolbox to fight back and push back,” Duffy said.
Gavin Newsom is ignoring the rules of the road, and innocent people are being killed because of it.
STOP ISSUING THESE ILLEGAL LICENSES FOR TRUCK DRIVERS
I’m about to pull $160 million from California… and more consequences may be on the way. — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
DOT Timeline
In the Oct. 24 release, USDOT laid out a timeline that it maintains demonstrates California’s noncompliance with a set of emergency rules the issued Sept. 26. Those rules declared noncitizens ineligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet narrower provisions, including having an employment-based visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check using the SAVE system.
The new rule “prevents all asylum-seekers from obtaining non-domiciled CDLs. States are now required to apply the stricter standards to all issuances, renewals, transfers or upgrades of a non-domiciled CDL,” DOT said.
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Per DOT, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Oct. 15 removed the in-state restriction on Singh’s CDL as he had turned 21 — the age at which drivers may travel interstate — thus upgrading his driving privileges. “California processed the upgrade to Singh’s non-domiciled CDL without applying the stricter standards as required by the emergency rule,” DOT stated.
“If California had complied with the secretary’s emergency rule and prevented the upgrade of Singh’s driving privileges, Singh would have been required to return to the DMV (on or after Oct. 15) to have the ‘K’ restriction removed and upgrade his CDL,” DOT stressed. “At that time, Singh would have been subject to the emergency rule and found ineligible to retain the non-domiciled CDL due to Singh’s status as an asylum-seeker.”
California Responds
The with three counts of gross negligence vehicular manslaughter and DUI causing injury and assigned responsibility to Singh’s employment status to federal regulators.
“This is a heinous tragedy that took three lives and severely injured others. Frankly, it was easily avoidable if the defendant was not driving in a grossly negligent manner and impaired. Had the rule of law been followed by state and federal officials, the defendant should have never been in California at all,” said Jason Anderson, county district attorney. The DA’s office indicated it could file more charges against Singh, who was scheduled for arraignment. It asked the judge to deny bail because Singh was considered a flight risk. “Eyewitness and dashcam footage show defendant Singh traveling at a high rate of speed into stopped traffic,” the DA’s office stated.
A spokesperson for Newsom released a statement to Transport Topics: “This is a tragic situation. And as with every tragedy over the last 10 months, [ϳԹland Security] Secretary [Kristi] 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.”
This state rebuttal to DOT was repeated by the California State Transportation Agency in an Oct. 23 social media post. “MISINFORMATION ALERT: The state does not determine commercial driver’s license eligibility. The FEDERAL government approves and renews all FEDERAL employment authorization documents that allows individuals to work and obtain commercial driver’s licenses.”
MISINFORMATION ALERT: The state does not determine commercial driver’s license eligibility. The FEDERAL government approves and renews all FEDERAL employment authorization documents that allows individuals to work and obtain commercial driver’s licenses. — CalSTA (@CA_Trans_Agency)
A CalSTA spokesperson stated that federal authorities had extended Singh’s Employment Authorization Documents through Aug. 18, 2030. The California DMV confirmed those documents via a federal record-keeping system. Further, the spokesperson noted that Singh’s CDL was compliant with federal REAL ID guidelines, which he was entitled to receive since he held valid legal status. The spokesperson said California followed all federal and state laws in reviewing and granting Singh a California CDL.
Deportation
Singh now . The agency alleges he is “a criminal illegal alien from India” who entered the U.S. via the southern border in 2022.
ϳԹland Security Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “This accident follows a disturbing trend of illegal aliens driving 18-wheelers and semi-trucks on America’s roads.”
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