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Dashcam video from a deadly California freeway crash involving a suspected illegal immigrant truck driver in a tractor-trailer shows the vehicle plowing through bumper-to-bumper traffic in a wreck that killed three.
Jashanpreet Singh, 21, received a California commercial driver’s license in June, according to the federal Department of Transportation.
The video shows the truck he is accused of driving rear-ending a row of cars caught in traffic before flames burst out from under the hood, and it veers to the right, crashing into more vehicles and what appear to be utility trucks before coming to a stop near the shoulder.
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In September, federal officials warned California that they had uncovered compliance issues with such licenses and demanded corrections, including pausing the issuance of new licenses to non-citizens and reviewing existing licenses to make sure they followed the rules.
Those that didn’t meet the criteria were supposed to be revoked. However, on Oct. 15, Singh turned 21 and actually had a restriction on his license removed, according to the DOT.
However, under an emergency DOT policy, he should have been disqualified, authorities said.
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Six days later, authorities say Singh was driving a semi-truck while allegedly under the influence of drugs when he plowed into a row of stopped cars on the freeway, killing three people.
“My prayers are with the families of the victims of this tragedy,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement Thursday night.
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“It would have never happened if Gavin Newsom had followed our new rules,” he continued. “California broke the law and now three people are dead and two are hospitalized. These people deserve justice. There will be consequences.”
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office pointed the finger back at the feds.
“This is a tragic situation. And as with every tragedy over the last ten months, Secretary Noem has ordered Secretary Duffy to look for every opportunity to manipulate the facts to score cheap political points, but the FEDERAL government needs to look within before they cast blame outside,” the governor’s office told Fox News Digital in an email. “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.”
Separately, the California Transportation Agency said it is not the agency that decides whether an applicant is eligible for a commercial driver’s license — also blaming the federal government.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer request for Singh on Oct. 22. He remains jailed in San Bernardino County.
ICE described him as “a criminal illegal alien.” He is originally from India.
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“It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the U.S. and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways,” Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This accident follows a disturbing trend of illegal aliens driving 18 wheelers and semi-trucks on America’s roads. Earlier this week, DHS highlighted another fatal accident in Indiana caused by an illegal alien driving a semi-truck. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is working day-in and day-out to make America’s roads safe again.”
There was also a deadly crash under similar circumstances in Florida.
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