The Department of Homeland Security connected Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to a car crash in Florida, in which an illegal immigrant killed three people on a highway.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles identified the immigrant as Harjinder Singh. On Aug. 12, a minivan crashed into Singh as he tried to make an illegal U-turn in a semitruck, killing three people in the smaller vehicle.
The department said in a press release that Singh entered the United States illegally through the Mexico border in 2018 and obtained a Commercial Driver’s License in California. He is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations.
“3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License,” Noem said Monday on X. “This gut wrenching tragedy should have never happened.”
3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License.
This gut wrenching tragedy should have never happened.
My team at @DHSgov will work with @USDOT to root out and prevent illegal aliens from…
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) August 18, 2025
Noem said she is working with her DHS team and the Department of Transportation to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses from “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also connected Newsom and California’s DMV to the car crash on X, calling the state’s governance “asinine.” DHS’s account also posted McLaughlin’s statement on X.
3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine.
How many more innocent people have to die before @GavinNewsom stops playing games with the safety of the… pic.twitter.com/chT7ln1TTZ
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) August 18, 2025
In a separate post on X, McLaughlin said Singh’s work authorization was rejected by Trump’s first administration in September 2020. However, it was approved under the Biden administration nine months later.
False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020. It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021.
The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses.… https://t.co/4YSs3qIj2B
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) August 18, 2025
On Monday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) shared the FLHSMV’s press release on Singh, saying the suspect must be held accountable.
NOEM LIVING ON MILITARY BASE OUT OF CONCERN FOR SAFETY AFTER BEING ‘HORRIBLY DOXXED’
“He should have never been in our country in the first place!” DeSantis wrote on X.
DeSantis did not mention Newsom when slamming Singh’s actions. The two governors, who have sparred in the past, are both possible candidates for the 2028 presidential election. DeSantis ran in the 2024 Republican primary before endorsing President Donald Trump.