Fatal Florida crash fuels immigration fight between DeSantis and Newsom

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis dispatched his top deputy to California to oversee the handover of a truck driver accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida last week.

Sending his newly appointed lieutenant governor, Jay Collins, underscores Republicans’ push to crack down on illegal immigration. It also revs up a political rivalry between DeSantis and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, both of whom aspire to higher office.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Monday that truck driver Harjinder Singh, a native of India, was in the country illegally.

“Three lives lost because of Gavin Newsom. Because of California’s failed policies,” Collins said Thursday at a press conference near an airport in Stockton, California.

“We’re done with that,” Collins added, using an expletive.

A spokesperson for Newsom described Collins’ trip to California as a “photo op” and criticized Florida officials for letting a “murder suspect walk.”

Collins did not elaborate on why Singh was able to fly to California after the Aug. 12 crash on Florida’s Turnpike. U.S. Marshals arrested him Saturday in Stockton.

Singh made the illegal turn on the highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A minivan in the neighboring lane was unable to avoid the truck’s trailer and slammed into it, killing the minivan’s driver and two passengers.

Singh and a passenger in his truck were not injured.

Florida authorities said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018. According to Homeland Security, Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, which is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center.

Collins said Thursday that Singh never should have been issued a driver’s license, calling the move “unacceptable.” Collins said Singh lacks basic English proficiency and did not know the road signs.

Newsom’s press office responded on the X platform that Singh obtained a work permit while Donald Trump was president. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin disputed that, saying the federal government denied him a permit during Trump’s first term in September 2020 and granted him one in June 2021, under President Joe Biden.

Singh is charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. The federal government has asked that he be transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after his criminal case is complete.

A public defender assigned to Singh’s case did not respond to a request for comment.

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.