Drew Dixon- 287G program
- attorney general
- CDL
- commercial drivers licenses
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Florida Agricultural Commissioner
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
- Florida Highway Patrol
- Harjinder Singh
- James Uthmeier
- Jay Collins
- letter
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- Wilton Simpson
Attorney General James Uthmeier is asking the federal government to reconsider issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) in the wake of a deadly accident that authorities say involved a truck driven by a migrant.
Uthmeier is sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration asking the agencies to weigh revoking CDL programs and stripping federal funding from California and Washington as a result of that Florida crash on Aug. 12.
Harjinder Singh has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after authorities say made an illegal U-turn while driving a semi-tractor trailer on the Florida Turnpike before colliding with a minivan.
Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles officials say Singh entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 through Mexico and obtained CDLs in California and Washington.
“People are fleeing ‘sanctuary states,’ where policymakers cater to criminals and illegal immigrants at the expense of law-abiding American citizens. But the crash that occurred last week in St. Lucie County shows that no one in America is safe from sanctuary states,” Uthmeier said in the opening of his letter.
Uthmeier said the investigation “quickly revealed the following facts: Singh is an illegal immigrant, he does not speak English, and he cannot identify basic road symbols. Federal law prohibits states from issuing a CDL to individuals who possess any of these traits, let alone all three.”
Meanwhile, there is a petition growing with signatures calling for Florida to show some leniency toward Singh. It has already garnered nearly 3 million signatures.
But some Florida leaders, like Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, have called the petition drive “ridiculous.”
Uthmeier said that while there is an audit of the CDL process in Washington and California, if there is a pattern established, those states should be decertified by the U.S. Department of Transportation from issuing CDLs.
“Decertification for California and Washington under the present circumstances would also match the tone set by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office. The American people elected the President with a mandate to secure the nation’s borders and apprehend illegal aliens,” Uthmeier said.
In an additional development Monday, Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced that his personnel will utilize agricultural interdiction stations on major highways to also look for migrants who may be in the country illegally and driving commercial vehicles.
“With 23 inspection stations on Florida roadways and 100 percent of our officers being certified in the 287(g) Program (which is immigration enforcement), agricultural law enforcement officers are uniquely skilled and positioned to help prevent another tragedy and be a force multiplier in the fight against illegal immigration and criminal activity,” Simpson said.
