A truck driver from India who entered the U.S. illegally is being held at the San Joaquin County jail in a case that Trump administration officials are using to bash California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Harjinder Singh was arrested on a warrant and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after a minivan crashed into his tractor-trailer truck as he attempted an illegal U-turn on a highway in St. Lucie County, Florida, on Aug. 12, authorities said. Three people in the minivan were killed in the collision. WSVN-TV in Miami reported Singh is a Stockton resident.
The U-turn was illegal because it was at a break in the Florida Turnpike marked for “Official Use Only,” and Singh’s truck, with its long trailer, blocked all lanes of traffic when he attempted the U-turn. The Chrysler minivan crashed into the underside of the trailer.
“It is evident that the driver of the commercial semi-truck recklessly, and without regard for the safety of others, attempted to execute a U-turn utilizing an unauthorized location,”
the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a press release saying the video of Singh from inside the truck’s cab indicates “his face shows no shock or remorse for his actions or the lives he destroyed.” Moreover, it also blasts Newsom, a Democrat who is a frequent critic of the administration, for allowing California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver’ s license to a illegal immigrant.
“Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a commercial driver’s license — this state of governance is asinine,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement in the release. “How many more innocent people must die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public?”
No response yet from Newsom.
Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an immigration detainer Saturday. It said it will ensure he remains in custody after he is prosecuted in California, “preventing him from slipping back onto America’s streets.” This detainer, it says, ensures he will be transferred to ICE custody the moment his criminal case concludes.
San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said in his monthly video address that the Singh case points up how he is not able to honor an “ICE hold” under state law.
The law, he said, precludes him from turning over an illegal immigrant directly to ICE if he has not committed a previous crime. The law “really limits what we can do.” He called for modification of the law to allow sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies to use their judgment about whether to honor an ICE hold.