At least six people are now dead thanks to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s reckless policy of issuing Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to illegal aliens. The 2028 Democrat presidential hopeful’s record has now come under increased scrutiny amid reports of drivers who don’t possess even basic English language skills and fail to understand the laws of the road.
Two high-profile cases underscore the deadly consequences of Newsom’s policy. The most recent comes out of Ontario, California, where Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal alien from India, is accused of killing three people, including a husband and wife, during a “chain reaction crash” on the highway.
Horrifying video of the incident shows Singh never even hit his brakes as he plows his 18-wheeler at full speed into stopped traffic. According to Fox News reporter Bill Melugin, Singh “was caught and released at the California border by the Biden administration in March 2022.” Newsom’s California then allowed Singh to obtain a CDL and even upgraded his driving privileges in direct violation of orders from the federal Department of Transportation.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) confirmed Singh never should have been behind the wheel, had California simply followed federal law. In September, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy informed California of “significant compliance failures” with its issuance of CDLs. One in four truck drivers are allegedly improperly licensed in the state.
Due to this glaring issue, DOT required California to pause giving out new licenses to noncitizens. However, Newsom’s administration evidently ignored this rule and gave Singh an upgraded license on October 15, just days before he killed three innocent people.
DOT’s conclusion is a stunning indictment of Newsom’s reckless behavior. “There will be consequences,” Secretary Duffy pledged in late October.
Sadly, this is not the first time this year that Newsom’s decision to flood American highways with unqualified foreign drivers has led to the death of innocent people.
In August, another illegal alien named Harjinder Singh – who also received his CDL in California – killed three people in Florida. This driver “attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an ‘Official Use Only’ access point in St. Lucie County” on the highway, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in mid-August. “By blocking all lanes of the highway with his truck, Singh caused a brutal wreck, instantly killing three people and leaving Florida families shattered.”
Shocking footage of the aftermath shows Singh with “no shock or remorse for his actions or the lives he destroyed,” DHS stated.
A DHS spokeswoman put the blame squarely on Newsom. “Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License – this state of governance is asinine,” Tricia McLaughlin said. “Secretary Noem and DHS are working around the clock to protect the public and get these criminal illegal aliens out of America.”
Indeed, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem recently blasted Newsom for his policies, which she said turn trucks into “weapons” on America’s highways. “He is handing out driver’s licenses to people with no documentation,” Noem said. “Some of these individuals aren’t even giving a name.”
Noem called on Newsom “to understand that saving lives is the number one priority.”
But Newsom has remained defiant as his policies are getting Americans killed, even going so far as to castigate his critics as racist. “Lost in the immigrant-bashing is the fact that drivers holding a California-issued CDL are involved in fatal crashes at a rate far lower than the national average,” a Newsom spokesperson told Fox News. “If the focus were on safety, California should be a poster child, not a scapegoat.”
But Americans’ own experiences prove how absurd that lie is. Right Angle News Network recently shared photos of CDLs issued by California and New York with “No Name Given” listed as the driver’s first name. (Notably, these licenses are also REAL IDs, meaning that they can be used to fly and to vote.) As Fox News reported, one of these “No Name” drivers, who received his CDL from New York, was arrested by ICE in Oklahoma.
Another viral video, which has garnered millions of views, shows a semi-truck driver attempting to drive the wrong way down an interstate. When another trucker confronts him, the driver appears unable to understand English.
In October, the Trump Department of Transportation also rescinded licenses from more than 5,500 truckers who failed to meet basic English language proficiency standards. The immediate question, of course, becomes why those drivers were granted CDLs in the first place.
Not too long ago, America’s truckers were widely regarded as some of the safest and most professional drivers on the road owing to rigorous licensing and safety standards. Now, however, Democrat open borders policies have put partisan political interests ahead of safety and basic common sense. Cautious travelers are left questioning whether the person operating the semi-truck behind their minivan full of kids is qualified to be on the road at all.
Fortunately, the Trump administration is taking action to restore integrity to the CDL licensing system. But as long as Democrat politicians like Gavin Newsom continue to hand out licenses to illegal aliens, American lives will be at risk.
Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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