Trump officials criticize sentencing of illegal immigrant truck driver convicted of three deaths
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and DHS called the four-year-eight-month prison term for Jashanpreet Singh, an undocumented truck driver convicted of vehicular manslaughter, insufficient and pledged further action.
A federal judge sentenced Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national who entered the United States without authorization, to four years and eight months in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The conviction stems from an October 2025 crash on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County that killed three people and injured several others. Dash-cam footage showed Singh did not apply the brakes before the semi-truck collided with slow-moving traffic.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the sentence as a "slap on the wrist" and said his agency will continue efforts to prevent undocumented drivers from operating commercial trucks. The Department of Homeland Security said immigration officials are prepared to detain Singh upon his release to keep him off the roads.
Singh crossed the southern border in March 2022 and was released pending an immigration hearing. He obtained a California commercial driver’s license in June 2025, despite federal guidance that states should review non-citizen licenses for compliance. Federal officials have previously warned California about potential licensing gaps.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) also criticized the sentence, calling it insufficient for a foreign national who caused three deaths. The case has sparked debate over immigration enforcement and commercial driver licensing policies in California.