The driver of an 18-wheeler truck, who police said caused a fatal crash in St. Lucie County, Florida, last week, has been identified as an illegal immigrant.
The truck driver, Harjinder Singh, was named by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as the truck operator in the Aug. 12 collision that killed three people.
“During the course of this criminal investigation and with the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), State Troopers determined that Harjinder Singh entered the United States illegally, having crossed the Mexico border in 2018,” the agency said in a press release over the weekend. “The Defendant then obtained a Commercial Driver’s License in the state of California.”
Photos obtained by the Washington Examiner from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office show the scene where a minivan crashed into the semi-truck after the commercial vehicle apparently tried to make a U-turn through the median despite a road sign that stated U-turns were illegal at this particular spot. The crash occurred on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce.
“Based upon our initial, but on-going criminal investigation, 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 FLHSMV stated. “As a result of his actions, the three occupants of the mini-van are now deceased.”
The White House’s Rapid Response account shared a video on X Sunday that showed what appeared to be in-cab video footage of the moment that Singh allegedly made the turn across a two-lane road and the van sped into the sign.
This individual is an illegal immigrant who was granted a commercial driver’s license by the State of California — and now, three innocent people are dead.
He has been arrested for vehicular homicide and an ICE detainer has been issued. https://t.co/6NkliBDdSl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
FLHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner said Singh is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations.
State troopers deputized to carry out some immigration duties have submitted an ICE detainer for Singh to be turned over at the conclusion of state charges, Kerner added.
A White House spokeswoman lambasted California’s policies as having caused what was a “preventable” tragedy.
“This is a devastating tragedy made even worse by the fact that it was totally preventable. Illegal aliens that have no legal right to be in our country certainly should not be granted commercial driver’s licenses,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner on Monday. “Gavin Newscum’s pro-illegal alien policies have deadly consequences. Yet he continues to double down and put illegals over American citizens.”
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California is a “sanctuary” state, which means that elected state lawmakers have chosen not to allow local or state police to turn over illegal immigrants in police custody to federal immigration authorities at ICE.
The state passed a law in 2013 that allowed illegal immigrants to apply for and obtain driver’s licenses.