Jashanpreet Singh Case: California under fire for licensing undocumented truck driver

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing: "I can confirm that California gave this individual a licence, and it is something that the Department of Transportation has already looked into."

"So now ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has lodged a separate detainer for this individual, and these tragedies are following a disturbing pattern of these criminal illegal aliens being issued commercial vehicle licences," she said.

Jashanpreet Singh is accused of killing 3

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a statement, said it lodged an arrest detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, a 'criminal illegal alien from India', responsible for taking the lives of three individuals and several more injured in a DUI accident in San Bernadino County, California.

On October 22, ICE lodged an immigration detainer for Jashanpreet Singh following his arrest by local authorities in San Bernadino County, California, on charges of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence. Dash camera footage captured the crash.

ICE said Singh first entered the U.S. in 2022 through the southern border and was released into the country under the Biden administration.

“Loopholes that allow illegal aliens to operate deadly commercial vehicles on the streets of the United States must be closed immediately," said Los Angeles Enforcement and Removal Operations Acting Field Office Director Andre Quinones. "Tragedies like this are 100% preventable, and we will ensure that those who break our laws and endanger lives are held accountable. Criminals like Jashanpreet Singh will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and removed from our country to protect the safety of the American people.”

In April this year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order where he had directed all truck drivers in the US should be proficient in speaking and understanding English.

"My Administration will enforce the law to protect the safety of American truckers, drivers, passengers, and others, including by upholding the safety enforcement regulations that ensure that anyone behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle is properly qualified and proficient in our national language, English," a White House statement released on the issue had said.

There are approximately 750,000 Sikhs in the US, and about 150,000 working in the trucking industry, mostly as drivers, BBC reported.

In the country's west coast, around  40% of all truck drivers are Sikh, according to the North American Punjabi Trucking Association (NAPTA), reported BBC.