The GOP government, MAGA bigwigs and senior federal officials have placed blame on Blue state California after an 18-wheeler semi-truck crash killed three people earlier this week.The incident involved an undocumented immigrant named Jashanpreet Singh, whose commercial driver’s licence was issued despite federal restrictions.US President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, released a report Thursday accusing California of violating federal law by issuing a commercial driver’s license to Indian-origin Jashanpreet Singh. The 21-year-old Singh allegedly caused a crash on the I-10 Freeway while under the influence of drugs. The incident left three people dead, including a Pomona High School basketball coach and his wife, and four others injured.Duffy said California ignored a federal order to halt noncompliant licences and revoke improperly issued credentials, claiming the failure cost “three innocent souls.” He added, “My prayers are with the families of the victims of this tragedy. It would have never happened if Gavin Newsom had followed our new rules. California broke the law and now three people are dead and two are hospitalised. These people deserve justice. There will be consequences.”The Department of Transportation’s 2025 Annual Program Review and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) found flaws in California’s system for licensing non-domiciled commercial drivers, reports Fox News. The audit revealed “systemic policy, procedural, and programming errors,” including licences that remained valid after federal work authorisation expired.Singh’s licence was issued on June 27, 2025, and federal investigators flagged compliance failures on September 26. Despite a federal emergency rule limiting eligibility to drivers with certain employment-based visas, California upgraded Singh’s licence on October 15. The FMCSA review found more than one-fourth of sampled non-domiciled licences in California were incorrectly issued, prompting an order to halt new licences and review existing ones under threat of losing up to $160 million in federal highway funding.Dashcam footage from the crash showed Singh’s truck colliding with a white SUV, pushing a red sedan into a fireball, and striking other vehicles and utility trucks before coming to a stop. Singh illegally entered the United States via the southern border in March 2022 and was released pending an immigration hearing under former President Joe Biden’s alternatives-to-detention policy. He has no lawful immigration status, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Singh was arrested at the scene for driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter and booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.
