DHS Confirms Illegal Immigrant Trucker in Another Deadly California Crash Entered U.S. Under Biden

The Biden administration caught him at the border, released him into the country, and walked away. Now two people are dead on a California highway, and the man behind the wheel of that semi-truck is an illegal immigrant from India who never should have been there.

Authorities arrested 24-year-old Manvir Singh following a deadly multi-vehicle crash on Tuesday on northbound Highway 99 near Lodi, California. The California Highway Patrol responded around 12:20 p.m. after Singh's big rig jackknifed, skidded off the road, and slammed into a guardrail, triggering a collision involving three other vehicles. Two people were killed. Singh allegedly fled the scene on foot before being taken into custody.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin broke the immigration angle on Wednesday, confirming through DHS that Singh is an Indian national who crossed the border illegally near Arizona in 2023 and was caught and released by the Biden administration. ICE has since lodged an immigration detainer with local law enforcement.

BREAKING: DHS confirms to @FoxNews that the semi truck driver arrested for killing two people in a hit & run crash near Sacramento, CA yesterday is an Indian illegal alien who was caught & released at the AZ border by the Biden admin in 2023. His name is Manvir Singh, and he is now facing charges in San Joaquin County, CA for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit & run resulting in death. He allegedly tried to flee the scene on foot after the crash. ICE has placed a detainer on him with local law enforcement.

This is the fourth Indian illegal alien truck driver with the last name 'Singh' that we've covered who has been arrested for killing innocent people in crashes around the country, going back to last year.

Singh is facing charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit-and-run resulting in death or injury, and resisting a police officer. His bail is set at $185,000, and he is expected to appear in court on Thursday. The victims have not yet been publicly identified.

Shortly after, Melugin posted a second update sharing DHS's formal statement on the crash:

"This criminal illegal alien from India should never have been behind the wheel of a semi-truck and allowed to kill two innocent people in a multi-vehicle crash in California," said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. 'He is now charged with vehicular manslaughter, hit and run resulting in death or injury, and resisting a police officer. This is yet another example of why illegal aliens should not be operating trucks on American highways. We need Congress to pass Dalilah's Law to prohibit states from granting illegal aliens commercial driver's licenses."

The timing of this crash is impossible to ignore. It comes less than a week after the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II LLC that freight brokers can be held liable in state court when they negligently hire unsafe trucking companies. The decision, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, rejected the trucking industry's long-standing argument that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) shields brokers from such lawsuits.

"A claim that one company negligently hired another to transport goods is not preempted by the FAAAA because States retain authority to regulate safety 'with respect to motor vehicles' under the Act," Barrett wrote.

The ruling "resolved a split among federal appeals courts" and is expected to significantly increase legal exposure for brokers who cut corners when vetting the carriers they hire.

The question of whether a broker knew, or should have known, about a carrier's safety record and vetting practices will now be squarely before juries in state courts across the country. That could open the door to broader scrutiny of how drivers are hired and credentialed.

That convergence of issues, illegal immigrant drivers, lax CDL oversight, and now expanded broker liability, is fueling an intensifying debate about who bears responsibility when people die on American roads.

That debate had already been building. In December 2025, DHS spotlighted another case involving an illegal immigrant truck driver from India who allegedly caused a fatal crash in Oregon after receiving a commercial driver's license in California.

"Rajinder Kumar, a criminal illegal alien from India, was released into our country under the Biden administration and issued a commercial driver's license by Gavin Newsom's Department of Motor Vehicles. How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America's roads? Our prayers are with William and Jennifer's families. Under Secretary Noem, ICE will continue its efforts to get illegal alien truck drivers off America's highways."

DHS linked that Oregon crash to a string of other fatal trucking incidents involving illegal immigrant drivers from India, including collisions in Florida and California that left multiple people dead or critically injured.

Dalilah's Law, named after a young California girl severely injured in a separate trucking crash, would prohibit states from issuing commercial driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. DHS has repeatedly called on Congress to pass it. Given that Melugin is now reporting this as the fourth Indian illegal immigrant truck driver with the surname "Singh" to be arrested for killing people on American roads, the pressure on Capitol Hill is only going to grow.

An American kid, who grew up among a driving population can get his CDL at 18, however, he must remain in his home state until 21. He can’t even cross state lines while in training.

An illegal, who may have hardly been in a vehicle until he made his way to a porous border can get an unrestricted CDL immediately upon his illegal entry.

While the 21 age needs some tweaking, a person must possess some serious driving skill before being handed a Commercial Driver License and running a 80 foot long 65,000 lb vehicle at highway speeds.

My son was the kid with the CDL at 18. We live in a small state so he moved to his Grandma’s house for a few years in a larger state so he could get a job.

He began by driving box trucks and gained some experience, then moved on to flatbed eighteen wheelers.

He’s now 26, sitting around 1/2 million safe miles. He did have one bad wreck but it was unavoidable. He put himself at mortal risk by swerving away from a loaded school bus who’s driver pulled into his path from a side street. He was in a loaded dump truck. Had it on two wheels for about 100 feet but the load shifted and he went over before he could save it. God was merciful as he was basically uninjured.

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