How Indian trucker Jashanpreet Singh, arrested for killing 3 in road crash, entered US illegally and was allowed to stay
After he crossed the southern US border apparently from Mexico in 2022, he was first intercepted by the US Border Patrol agents in California
Jashanpreet Singh, the 21-year-old trucker from India who has been arrested for causing a road crash that killed three people in California, had entered the United States illegally three years ago.
He now faces charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and other offences for the deadly crash on the the San Bernardino County freeway in Southern California.
After he crossed the southern US border from Mexico in 2022, he was first intercepted by the US Border Patrol agents in California’s El Centro Sector in March of that year.
Since the then President Joe Biden's administration had an “alternatives to detention” policy, the Sikh immigrant of Punjabi origin was among certain undocumented migrants who were permitted to remain free while awaiting court hearings.
The deadly crash was captured on the dashcam of Jashanpreet Singh’s truck. His truck first slammed into an SUV, triggering a fire that killed at least three people. He and a roadside mechanic assisting with a tyre change were among those injured.
Investigators said He never applied the brakes before impact, and toxicology tests later said he was high on drugs. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Jashanpreet Singh was in the US without lawful status.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now filed an immigration detainer on him following his arrest.
Further detail on his antecedents were not shared.
But top officials have questioned how he managed to get a driver's licence — a commercial trucker's licence at that — despite his illegal status and alleged lack of English language expertise.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed the growing safety issue involving unqualified commercial drivers. “I put states on notice this summer: enforce the Trump Administration’s English language requirements or the checks stop coming!” Duffy said.
“California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement," he added.
Duffy’s comments came after the Trump administration announced it would withhold $40 million in federal highway safety funding from California for failing to comply with English proficiency standards for truck drivers.
Earlier, another Indian-origin Sikh driver, Harjinder Singh, caused a similar crash and was also an illegal immigrant, who had crossed the border in 2018. He is accused of causing a fatal crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that killed three people. Investigators said he had failed both English and road sign tests before obtaining his California commercial driver’s licence.
