A tragic eight-car collision on a California freeway has cast a harsh spotlight on Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old identified as an unauthorized migrant from India.
As reported by Breitbart, Singh is suspected of driving under the influence and speeding when he slammed into slow-moving traffic on the 10 freeway in Ontario, California, causing a catastrophic pileup involving four semi-trucks, two pickups, and two cars.
The incident left three dead and four injured, with Singh now in custody at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, facing potential charges of DUI, causing great bodily injury, and gross vehicular manslaughter. Fox News reporter Bill Melugin broke the story on X, citing multiple ICE sources that Singh had crossed the California border in March 2022 and was released under policies of the current administration. This detail adds fuel to an already heated debate over how lax enforcement at our borders might be endangering American lives on the highways.
Unpacking the Border Policy Fallout
Melugin’s post laid bare a troubling timeline, stating, “Per multiple ICE sources, Jashanpreet Singh, the semi-truck driver suspected of killing three people in a DUI crash on the 10 freeway in Ontario, CA yesterday, is an Indian illegal alien who was caught & released at the CA border by the Biden admin in March 2022.” If true, this catch-and-release approach seems to have paved a deadly path straight to this tragedy, raising alarms about accountability at the federal level.
ICE has reportedly placed a detainer request on Singh with local authorities, signaling their intent to address his immigration status alongside the criminal investigation. But one has to wonder why it takes a catastrophe of this magnitude to spotlight gaps in a system that should prioritize public safety over political posturing.
The accident’s aftermath, as described by witnesses, paints a grim picture of Singh’s alleged recklessness, with one observer, Jason Calmelat, telling NBC Los Angeles, “It didn’t stop,” and noting the truck made no attempt to swerve or slow down. Such disregard for basic road safety, if proven, isn’t just a personal failing; it’s a symptom of broader systemic issues that demand urgent attention.
A Witness to Devastation
The sheer violence of the collision was captured by dash-cam footage shared by ABC7 News on X, showing a semi-truck hurtling down the highway and smashing into vehicles without any apparent effort to brake. Calmelat’s account of hearing what “sounded like a big explosion” as a red truck barreled forward only underscores the horror of those caught in the wreckage.
This wasn’t a minor fender-bender; it was a multi-vehicle disaster that shattered lives in an instant. The human toll—three fatalities and four injuries—serves as a stark reminder of what’s at stake when oversight fails at multiple levels.
Police reports, as relayed by Melugin, confirm Singh was allegedly speeding and impaired at the time of the crash, never even attempting to slow down. That kind of behavior behind the wheel of a massive semi-truck isn’t just negligence; it’s a lethal weapon unleashed on unsuspecting drivers.
Language Barriers and Regulatory Failures
Adding another layer to this troubling story, a recent Department of Transportation press release from October 15 revealed that California has been non-compliant with federal English Language Proficiency standards for commercial drivers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy didn’t mince words, stating, “California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement.”
Duffy’s decision to withhold over $40 million in funding from the state after an investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sends a clear message: rules exist for a reason. Ignoring language requirements for truck drivers risks not just fines but lives, as this tragic incident may well illustrate.
While Singh’s proficiency in English hasn’t been directly tied to the crash, the state’s defiance of federal standards raises valid concerns about whether safety is being sacrificed for misguided progressive priorities. It’s a question that deserves answers, not platitudes, from Sacramento.
A Call for Accountability and Reform
The loss of three lives in Ontario is a gut-wrenching wake-up call that border policies and state-level regulations aren’t abstract debates; they have real-world consequences. Families are grieving, survivors are scarred, and a community is left asking how this could have been prevented.
Singh’s case, still pending formal charges, must be a catalyst for tougher scrutiny of who gets behind the wheel of vehicles capable of such destruction, and how our borders are managed. If catch-and-release practices and lax state compliance played any role here, then it’s time to stop gambling with American safety for the sake of political optics.
Public safety isn’t negotiable, and neither is justice for those lost in this preventable horror. Let this tragedy be the line in the sand that forces a reckoning, from border checkpoints to state capitols, before more lives are needlessly taken.
