White House confirms California gave CDL to illegal immigrant suspected of drunk driving

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that California has issued a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to an illegal immigrant truck driver accused in a fatal drunken driving crash that killed three people.

“I can confirm that California has licensed this person, and that is an issue that the Department of Transportation has already looked into,” Leavitt said. “I know that Secretary Duffy, who is doing a phenomenal job, has spoken many times during the crackdown about the Department of Transportation seizing these licenses that are being wrongly issued to people who clearly don’t deserve to be in these positions.”

Leavitt said the individual first entered the United States illegally in 2022 “and was released into our country by the previous administration.”

She added that the Department of Transportation (DOT) was cracking down on the issuance of CDLs amid a “disturbing trend” of CDLs being granted to illegal immigrants.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER CHARGED IN DEADLY CALIFORNIA CRASH RELEASED BY BIDEN ADMIN AFTER 2022 BORDER CROSSING

Reporters raise their hands to ask a question as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House Thursday, October 23, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant from India, was accused of driving drunk and causing an accident that left three people dead. He has since been arrested on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter while intoxicated after allegedly plowing his large vehicle into slow-moving traffic on I-10 in San Bernardino County.

Multiple federal law enforcement sources told Fox News that Singh was first encountered by Border Patrol agents in the El Centro sector of California in March 2022 and released into the interior of the country pending an immigration hearing.

Police say Singh never braked before running into a traffic jam, citing toxicology tests that confirmed impairment.

Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was arrested in connection with a fatal crash on I-10 in San Bernardino County, California on October 21, 2025. (Bill Melugin/via X,ICE)

“This is a tragic situation,” a spokeswoman for Gov. Gavin Newsom told Fox News Digital. “And as with every tragedy of the past ten months, Secretary Noem has ordered Secretary Duffy to seek every opportunity to manipulate the facts to score cheap political points, but the FEDERAL government must look inward before placing blame externally.”

“The FEDERAL government repeatedly approved and renewed this individual’s FEDERAL work authorization – allowing him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in accordance with FEDERAL law,” she added.

The Biden administration approved Singh’s work permit. Illegal immigrants can apply for work authorization 180 days after submitting their asylum application. Singh was arrested and released at the border in March 2022. Since then, he has been in the asylum procedure. Additionally, acquiring a work permit would not require California to issue an individual with a CDL, nor would it entitle an individual to obtain one.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER ACCUSED OF KILLING THREE PEOPLE FAILS ENGLISH, ROAD TEST SIGNS: DOT

This incident comes just months after a similar fatal accident involving an illegal immigrant truck driver.

On August 12, Harjinder Singh allegedly made an illegal U-turn in an unauthorized zone on the Florida Turnpike, colliding with a minivan and killing three people. He was arrested in California, where he fled after the fatal crash, and extradited to Florida.

Singh entered the United States illegally in 2018 through the southern border and was able to obtain a CDL in California. The first Trump administration rejected his request for work authorization in September 2020, said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

A composite image shows firefighters responding to a fatal crash in Florida linked to Harjinder Singh’s truck and Singh’s body camera cited for speeding in New Mexico on July 3, 2025. (St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office; New Mexico State Police)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On October 15, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) would withhold more than $40 million from California after an investigation found the state was failing to meet English proficiency standards.

In response to a video of the incident, Duffy said“This is exactly why USDOT withheld $40 MILLION from California for failing to follow our rules to protect drivers. We cannot allow our roads to be a dangerous place!”

Fox News Digital has contacted the DOT for comment.