In a new bombshell report, President Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy exposed how Governor Gavin Newsom and California illegally allowed a dangerous foreign driver to operate a truck, resulting in the tragic and preventable death of three innocent souls and the hospitalization of two more.
This comes as the Department of Transportation formally notified California of “significant compliance failures” after an audit revealed one in four non-domiciled CDLs sampled were issued improperly. California was required to:
- Pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs
- Identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations
- Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal requirements
“My prayers are with the families of the victims of this tragedy. It would have never happened if Gavin Newsom had followed our new rules. California broke the law and now three people are dead and two are hospitalized. These people deserve justice. There will be consequences,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
If California had complied with the Secretary’s emergency rule and prevented the upgrade of this individual’s driving privileges earlier this month, he would have never been able to get behind his big rig.
Here are the deadly facts:
- June 27, 2025: California issued Jashanpreet Singh, a 20-year-old asylum seeker, a restricted, non-domiciled CDL.
- The license includes a “K restriction,” limiting the driver to intrastate (in-state) operation
- September 26, 2025: Secretary Duffy formally notifies California of “significant compliance failures” after an audit revealed one in four non-domiciled CDLs sampled were issued improperly. California was required to:
- Pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs
- Identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations
- Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal requirements
- September 26, 2025: FMCSA issues an emergency rule to significantly strengthen standards for the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs.
- Under the emergency rule, non-citizens are not eligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet a much stricter set of rules, including possessing an employment-based visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check using the SAVE system
- Specifically, the new rule prevents all asylum seekers from obtaining non-domiciled CDLs
- States are now required to apply the stricter standards to all issuances, renewals, transfers, or upgrades of a non-domiciled CDL
- October 15, 2025: Singh turns 21. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) removes the “K restriction” and upgrades Singh’s driving privileges.
- This removal was an “upgrade” under federal regulations. However, California processed the upgrade to Singh’s non-domiciled CDL without applying the stricter standards as required by the emergency rule.
- October 21, 2025: Singh was operating a semi-truck under the influence of drugs on a California freeway when he struck a queue of stopped vehicles and fatally injured three people.
- If California had complied with the Secretary’s emergency rule and prevented the upgrade of Singh’s driving privileges, Singh would have been required to return to the DMV (on or after October 15) to have the ‘K’ restriction removed and upgrade his CDL.
- At that time, Singh would have been subject to the emergency rule and found ineligible to retain the non-domiciled CDL due to Singh’s status as an asylum seeker.
- Gavin Newsom was explicitly warned California’s CDL program was dangerously broken. The USDOT’s emergency rule was issued to explicitly prevent drivers like Singh from getting behind the wheel of commercial motor vehicles.
California has 30 days from September 26th, 2025, when FMSCA issued its letter of preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance, to audit of its CDL issuance practices and procedures and immediately void or rescind all unexpired, noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs.