Gavin Newsom Points Finger at Biden After Illegal Indian Trucker Involved in Deadly California Crash That Killed Three — White House Fires Back
A political firestorm has erupted in California after Governor Gavin Newsom publicly blamed the Biden administration for a tragic crash that killed three people — caused by an Indian national who reportedly entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to obtain a commercial driver’s license. The man, identified as 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, was behind the wheel of a semitruck that collided with multiple vehicles on Interstate 10 late Monday night, October 21, 2025. Authorities say Singh was driving impaired when the crash occurred, killing three people and injuring several others.
Governor Newsom’s office responded with a statement shifting much of the responsibility to Washington, D.C. “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,” a spokesperson for Newsom said. The statement sparked immediate backlash — not only from conservatives but from safety advocates — who accused the governor of deflecting blame from his own state’s licensing system.
According to federal and state records reviewed by Fox and Reuters, Singh entered the United States illegally through the southern border in 2022 and was released pending an immigration hearing. Despite his status, federal authorities approved temporary employment authorization that made him eligible for a California commercial driver’s license under existing regulations. Critics say that gap — between federal authorization and state-level vetting — directly enabled Singh to operate heavy vehicles on public highways.
The White House quickly fired back, pointing out that California independently decided to issue the CDL and has authority to determine licensing standards. “States are responsible for their own driver’s license procedures,” a Biden administration official told reporters. “Federal authorization does not compel a state to issue any license.” The exchange between Sacramento and Washington quickly escalated into a blame game, with each side insisting the other failed to enforce safeguards meant to prevent unqualified or unauthorized drivers from obtaining commercial credentials.
The tragedy has revived questions about California’s controversial licensing policies, which permit undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses and, in some cases, commercial vehicle permits if they hold valid work authorizations. Federal investigators have previously warned the state about lax oversight, particularly after the Department of Transportation withheld $40 million earlier this year, citing failures to verify English proficiency and background checks in its CDL testing program. That penalty came just weeks after a similar incident in Florida, where another unauthorized immigrant trucker caused a deadly crash that killed three people.
For Republicans and Trump-aligned lawmakers, the California case underscores what they call the “chaos and cost” of Biden’s immigration and transportation policies. Conservative commentators pointed out that Singh’s repeated federal authorizations — and his ability to work freely across state lines — were symptoms of a broader systemic failure to enforce immigration law. “You can’t just let people cross the border, hand them federal paperwork, and pretend it’s safe,” one GOP strategist said. “Three innocent people are dead because of this negligence.”
Meanwhile, families of the victims are demanding accountability from both state and federal authorities. Local law enforcement officials say Singh faces multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on him pending criminal proceedings.
The political fallout is expected to intensify as Republican leaders seize on the case ahead of the 2026 midterms, calling it another example of California’s “sanctuary state” policies putting lives at risk. President Trump’s campaign team has already referenced the crash in fundraising emails, framing it as “a tragedy that never should have happened” and proof that “weak borders cost American lives.”
For now, both Newsom and the White House are entrenched in a public dispute over who bears responsibility for the loopholes that allowed Jashanpreet Singh to operate a commercial vehicle. The governor insists his state followed federal law; Washington says California could have said no. What remains indisputable is the human toll — three lives lost, families devastated, and a state once again caught between politics and tragedy.
