The Department of Homeland Security says the truck driver arrested after a deadly crash on Highway 99 near Lodi, California, entered the country illegally in 2023 and was released by federal authorities. The crash killed two people and involved multiple vehicles; local and federal officials are now pointing to immigration, licensing, and industry accountability as factors in the aftermath. Charges include vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run, and ICE has lodged a detainer while prosecutors prepare their case. The episode has reignited debate over commercial licensing for noncitizens and recent Supreme Court precedent that expands liability for freight brokers.
The collision happened on a northbound stretch of Highway 99 around midday when a semi jackknifed, left the roadway, and slammed into a guardrail, touching off a multi-vehicle pileup. Two people were killed and the semi driver allegedly fled the scene on foot before being arrested nearby. Authorities identified the driver as 24-year-old Manvir Singh and booked him on multiple criminal counts tied to the crash and the apparent attempt to avoid responsibility.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin obtained a DHS confirmation that Singh is an Indian national who crossed at the Arizona border in 2023, was encountered by federal agents, and then released into the country. ICE placed a detainer with local law enforcement after the arrest following the Lodi crash. Local prosecutors have since charged Singh with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit-and-run resulting in death or injury, and resisting an officer; his bail was reported at $185,000 and a court appearance is scheduled.
Melugin laid out the reporting in a social media thread and the coverage included a detailed statement from DHS officials. The reporting noted this is the fourth case in recent memory involving an Indian national with the surname Singh arrested in connection with fatal crashes. Questions now center on how and whether he obtained driving credentials, and whether state-issued commercial licenses were involved.
“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.”
Federal officials and critics have framed the case as a failure of immigration enforcement and state licensing regimes, arguing that individuals who entered unlawfully should not be allowed to obtain commercial driving privileges. DHS officials explicitly called out the risk of noncitizens operating heavy commercial vehicles and urged legislative action to change how states issue commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.
“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.”
Complicating the context is a recent Supreme Court decision that opened the door for greater liability across the trucking supply chain. In a unanimous ruling, the Court made clear that state-law claims that a company negligently hired an unsafe carrier are not preempted by federal law, allowing juries to consider whether brokers or others in the freight chain cut corners. The opinion said states retain authority to regulate safety where motor vehicles are concerned, meaning plaintiffs can pursue negligence claims against brokers in state courts.
The ruling shifts potential responsibility beyond drivers and carriers to include brokers and other entities that vet and hire carriers. That change raises the prospect of broader scrutiny of hiring and credentialing practices, potentially exposing companies that fail to investigate carrier safety records to costly lawsuits. For families and communities, the legal developments mean more avenues to seek accountability after deadly crashes.
This particular crash lands amid a series of incidents that federal officials and advocates have linked to drivers who entered the U.S. unlawfully and later obtained commercial credentials. DHS has previously highlighted cases in other states where illegal entrants were involved in fatal crashes after receiving state-issued commercial licenses, and those accounts are driving calls for new federal limits on state licensing authority for noncitizens.
The collision and the federal response have already escalated political pressure on Congress to act on what supporters call common-sense limits and on states to reexamine licensing policies. The push for “Dalilah’s Law” and similar measures aims to bar illegal immigrants from getting commercial driver’s licenses, while the new Supreme Court landscape could make industry practices another target for reform and litigation.
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