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Concerns are rising regarding how an undocumented immigrant, accused of causing a truck crash in Florida that resulted in three fatalities, managed to acquire his commercial driver’s license.
Harjinder Singh is the individual implicated in the Fort Pierce incident. Officials indicate that he failed both English and road sign tests.
Despite entering the U.S. illegally, Singh was issued a full-term commercial driver’s license in Washington in July 2023 and a limited-term commercial driver’s license in California in 2024. Authorities from the Department of Transportation are investigating whether these licenses were issued in accordance with federal regulations.
Lora Ries, the Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, discussed how such a situation could have occurred.
“States issue both regular and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). They are not supposed to grant CDLs to individuals who aren’t U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (green card holders). However, it appears there’s a loophole allowing a state to issue a CDL to someone simply authorized to work in the U.S.,” Ries stated in a message to Fox News Digital.
She noted that the Trump administration rejected Singh’s work authorization application, but it was later approved by the Biden administration, potentially enabling him to exploit this loophole for a CDL.
Ries suggested actions that the federal government could take to prevent similar incidents in the future, including closing loopholes under federal immigration authority and requiring that work authorization only be granted once an immigration benefit application has been approved.
While states like California and Minnesota permit some undocumented individuals to drive, obtaining a commercial license can be significantly stricter. Recently, a sparring of remarks occurred on X between California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office and the Department of Homeland Security regarding the issue of work permits.
Newsom’s office pointed out that Singh’s federal work permit was issued during Trump’s presidency, emphasizing that he would have qualified in any state, with California adhering to federal law. Meanwhile, DHS’s assistant secretary highlighted that Singh’s work authorization was initially rejected under Trump but approved by Biden, clarifying that California follows its own process for issuing commercial driver’s licenses.
Fox News Digital reached out to the California Department of Motor Vehicles for further clarification.
