WASHINGTON, D.C. – US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has elevated his threat level against the state of California.
A news release issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Friday, Oct. 24, says a “bombshell report” uncovered that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state of 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.”
The crash in question took place on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, California, on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The truck driver, who was initially arrested for DUI, was identified as 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, an Indian national who entered the country by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022.
“My prayers are with the families of the victims of this tragedy,” Duffy stated in the release. “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.”
The USDOT reports that California was formally notified 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; and
- Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal requirements.
Duffy says that on June 27, 2025, California issued Jashanpreet Singh, a 20-year-old asylum seeker, a restricted, non-domiciled CDL. The license included a “K restriction,” limiting the driver to intrastate (in-state) operation.
On Sept. 26, 2025 FMCSA issued 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.
According to the USDOT statement, when Singh turned 21 on Oct. 15, 2025, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles removed the “K restriction” and upgraded Singh’s driving privileges. However, California processed the upgrade to Singh’s non-domiciled CDL without applying the stricter standards as required by the Sept. 26 emergency rule. Had the state complied with the emergency rule, Duffy said, Singh would have been found ineligible to retain the non-domiciled CDL due to Singh’s status as an asylum seeker.
On Oct. 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,” the USDOT statement read.
“Gavin Newsom was explicitly warned California’s CDL program was dangerously broken,” the statement noted. “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.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
