Illegal immigrant truck driver accused in deadly Florida crash got Biden work permit after Trump denial: DHS

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'Horrific situation': Illegal migrant truck driver with California license arrested after deadly crash

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier reacts after an illegal migrant truck driver licensed in the state of California caused a fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike that left three people dead.

The illegal immigrant truck driver accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida was given a work permit under the Biden administration, officials said Monday. 

Harjinder Singh, who was arrested on Saturday in Stockton, California, on three counts of vehicle homicide, entered the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump administration on Sept. 14, 2020, said Tricia McLaughlin, the Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF KILLING 3 IN FLORIDA HIGHWAY CRASH CROSSED BORDER INTO CALIFORNIA IN 2018: DHS

Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old illegal alien from India who was arrested on Aug. 16, 2025, allegedly attempted to make an unauthorized U-turn in Ft. Pierce, Florida on Tuesday, resulting in a crash that killed three people. (United States Marshals Service)

McLaughlin noted Singh's work approval in response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the first Trump administration "confirmed that this guy meets federal and state immigration requirements -- YOU issued him a work permit (EAD)."

"As usual, the Trump Administration is either lying or clueless," Newsom's press office wrote on X. 

McLaughlin noted that the federal government doesn't issue commercial driver's licenses. 

"False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020," she wrote. "It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL. Sincerely, Genius."

Singh, who officials believe crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018, obtained his commercial driver’s license in California despite his illegal status in the U.S. 

ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF CAUSING FATAL SEMI TRUCK CRASH THAT KILLED 3 PEOPLE: 'SHOCKING AND CRIMINAL'

Image provided by United States Marshals Service (USMS) San Francisco shows Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old illegal alien from India who was arrested on August 16, 2025. Singh allegedly attemptied to make an unauthorized U-turn in Ft. Pierce, Florida on Tuesday, resulting in a crash that killed three people. (United States Marshals Service)

He remains in custody on both state vehicular homicide charges as well as immigration violations. 

A spokesperson for Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that Singh was issued a work permit on April 9. 

"Why don’t you ask Trump about the driver’s federally issued work permit and when he entered this country?," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Spoiler alert: it was in 2018 under Trump — whoops. He would have been eligible in any state. California followed federal law, something the President knows nothing about."

In fact, the driver in this case was reissued an Employment Authorization (work permit) on 4/9/2025 and, if my math is correct, that falls within the current presidential term," the statement continued. 

 Singh was driving a commercial truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce when he allegedly attempted a U-turn in an unauthorized area. The move resulted in the trailer jackknifing and colliding with a minivan — leaving all three of the minivan's passengers dead, according to officials.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the three deaths could have been avoided if California had followed federal immigration laws. 

Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump (Getty)

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"3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License," she wrote Monday on X. "This gut wrenching tragedy should have never happened. My team at @DHSgov will work with @USDOT to root out and prevent illegal aliens from obtaining these licenses from sanctuary jurisdictions that put American drivers and passengers in danger."