A 21-year-old illegal immigrant from India has reportedly been charged in connection with a deadly multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 in California that killed three people and injured several others, raising renewed questions about border enforcement and highway safety standards in the state.
Authorities identified the driver as Jashanpreet Singh, a truck operator who entered the United States illegally in 2022 and was later released under an “alternatives to detention” program.
Singh was behind the wheel of a semi-truck that failed to brake before plowing into slowed traffic on October 22, triggering an eight-vehicle pileup that included four commercial trucks.
Dashboard camera footage captured the moment the truck slammed into a passenger car before careening into several others, causing one to burst into flames. Among those killed were former Pomona High School assistant basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife, Lisa.
🚨 @ICEgov lodged an arrest detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, a criminal illegal alien from India, who took the lives of 3 individuals in a horrific DUI accident in San Bernadino County, California.
Singh first entered the U.S. in 2022 through the southern border and was RELEASED… pic.twitter.com/v5jtvwwuOo
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 23, 2025
Singh was arrested at the scene by the California Highway Patrol and is currently being held without bail. He faces multiple felony charges, including driving under the influence of drugs causing bodily injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer against Singh, confirming that he was in the country unlawfully.
The fatal crash has reignited debate over California’s transportation and immigration policies, which critics say have compromised public safety. Singh’s release under federal “alternatives to detention” — a policy allowing migrants to remain in the United States while their immigration cases are processed — has drawn particular scrutiny amid growing frustration over what many see as lax enforcement.
The incident also comes as California faces federal pressure over its truck driver safety standards. Earlier this year, the Trump administration withheld more than $40 million in highway safety funds from the state, citing its failure to comply with federal English language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers. Federal officials argued that poor language enforcement has increased the risk of accidents on the road.
In a related move, the U.S. government temporarily paused the issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers to review vetting and credentialing procedures.
Officials described the review as part of a broader effort to ensure that foreign drivers meet U.S. safety and communication standards before operating large commercial vehicles on American highways.
The tragedy on I-10 underscores the potential consequences of what many conservatives view as an increasingly permissive immigration system combined with inadequate state oversight of commercial driving. Law enforcement officials have not disclosed how Singh obtained his trucking position, but the case has renewed calls for stricter federal-state coordination to prevent similar incidents in the future.
For now, Singh remains in custody as prosecutors prepare their case. Families of the victims, meanwhile, are demanding accountability — not just from the driver, but from the state and federal policies that allowed him to be on the road in the first place.
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