OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:04 AM – Wednesday, August 27, 2025
According to officials, the illegal immigrant who caused a car crash in Florida, killing three people in a minivan after making an illegal U-turn, has failed both the English Language Proficiency (ELP) test and road sign tests.
Federal law mandates that holders of a commercial driver’s license (CDL) must be proficient in English, as it is critical for safely interpreting road signs and communicating during emergencies.
Harjinder Singh, 28, was identified as the suspect of the fatal August 12th crash. As of now, Singh is formally charged, but not yet convicted. He faces three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter.
Dashcam video evidence from inside the truck cab shows Singh making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce. The maneuver blocked all northbound lanes, leading to a collision with a Chrysler minivan.
Three Floridian victims, aged 30, 37, and 54, were wedged underneath the trailer and killed — two at the scene, and one later in a local hospital. The three individuals who tragically lost their lives have been identified as:
- Faniola Joseph, age 37, from Pompano Beach
- Herby Dufresne, age 30, from Florida City
- Rodrigue Dor, age 54, from Miami
Florida Highway Patrol emphasized that neither Singh nor the passenger in his car were injured, despite the minivan colliding with the semi-truck, resulting in the deaths of three passengers.
Singh, an Indian national, entered the country illegally through the Southern Border in 2018 and obtained commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) in California and Washington, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The first Trump administration denied his first attempt to obtain work authorization in 2020, according to Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. However, he later received a work permit in California under the Biden administration in 2021, which McLaughlin condemned Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) for on X.
“Three 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,” McLaughlin wrote. “How many more innocent people have to die before @GavinNewsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public?”
Nonetheless, Newsom attempted to deflect responsibility for Singh’s work permit, placing the blame on the Trump administration instead.
“Hey, genius: the federal government (TRUMP ADMIN) already confirmed that this guy meets federal and state immigration requirements – YOU issued him a work permit (EAD). As usual, the Trump Administration is either lying or clueless,” Newsom’s office responded on X.
“False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020,” McLaughlin shot back. “It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL.”
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy had announced last week that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) began an investigation into the deadly car crash in Florida.
“If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been behind the wheel, and three precious lives would still be with us. This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures. Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier, resulting in unqualified foreign drivers improperly acquiring licenses to operate 40-ton vehicles,” Duffy said in a statement.
“We will use every tool at our disposal to hold these states and bad actors accountable. President Trump and I will restore safety to our roads. The families of the deceased deserve justice.”
The announcement included the investigation’s preliminary findings, which noted that Washington State issued the driver a full-term CDL, for which illegal aliens and asylum seekers are not eligible. California issued a limited-term CDL in 2024.
Additionally, the New Mexico State Police conducted a roadside inspection of the driver and issued a speeding ticket in July 2025, but did not administer an English Language and Proficiency (ELP) assessment — even though it has been legally required since June 2025.
The most shocking results came from the investigation’s administration of the ELP assessment, which Singh failed miserably, despite having two licenses.
“During FMCSA’s interview with the driver, investigators administered an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment in accordance with FMCSA guidance,” the statement read. “The driver failed the assessment, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.”
Duffy is now threatening to cut federal funding for the three U.S. states implicated in the FMCSA’s investigation — if they do not comply within 30 days to enforce the ELP requirement for commercial truck drivers.
“This is about keeping people safe on the road, your families, your kids, your spouses, your loved ones, your friends, we all use the roadway, and we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs, semis, can understand the road signs, that they’ve been well trained,” Duffy said.
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