Newsom, DHS disagree about legal status, driver's license of migrant charged in fatal Florida crash

The Department of Homeland Security and the California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom are blaming each other in connection with a fatal vehicle accident in Florida last week in which three people were killed.

On August 12, an illegal immigrant truck driver named Harjinder Singh attempted to make a U-turn in an unauthorized area with a commercial semi-truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce, Fox News reported. The trailer jackknifed and a minivan ran into it, killing all three of the minivan's passengers.

Singh, who had obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with the crash.

He reportedly was in country illegally, having crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in 2018, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, according to the department.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed California's motor vehicles department for the incident in a post on X on Monday.

"3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine," McLaughlin wrote.

"How many more innocent people have to die before @GavinNewsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public? We pray for the victims and their families. Secretary Noem and DHS are working around the clock to protect the public and get these criminal illegal aliens out of America."

Newsom's press office responded on Monday, posting, "Hey, genius: the federal government (TRUMP ADMIN) already 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. p.s. @grok, who was President in 2018?"

In the post, Newsom's office noted that Singh reportedly entered the U.S. in 2018, under the first Trump administration.

His office included a graphic in the post that reads, "FACT: Consistent with federal law, it's California law that you MUST have lawful presence (i.e., legal immigration status) in the U.S. to obtain a Commercial Driver's License or Commercial Driver's Permit." Underneath the "fact," the graphic adds, "Research also consistently shows that issuing driver's licenses for undocumented people improves public safety."

McLaughlin responded to Newsom's office later on Monday, writing, "False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020. It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL."