A Couple Of Observations About Harjinder Singh

UPDATE: Harjinder Singh, an illegal alien from India who killed three innocent people, FAILED an English Language Proficiency assessment. Singh provided correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.

And yet,… pic.twitter.com/AwndMrW9Vm

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 20, 2025

The level of non-feasance that led to Harjinder Singh's illegal U-turn that killed three people on the Florida Turnpike is astonishing. The twisted path via which he received a California commercial driver's license is coming to light only slowly:

Washington authorities said Friday they continue to investigate the licensing history of a commercial truck driver involved in a fatal crash this month in Florida that has drawn national attention.

. . . Federal authorities say the state of Washington issued Singh a commercial driver’s license on July 15, 2023.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Licensing confirmed his license was valid through July 2024, when California issued him a commercial driver’s license. That canceled his Washington license, according to Nathan Olson, an agency spokesperson.

. . . Singh may have received training through a defunct Pacific Northwest school that allegedly helped unqualified truckers buy their way onto the road.

An investigation this year by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that Washington regulators determined that Skyline CDL School, a commercial driving academy with branches in Washington and Oregon, relied on unqualified instructors, falsified records, bypassed English proficiency standards that are mandatory for truckers, and failed to document training hours and students’ skills.

The news organization reported that the school allegedly bribed an independent driving tester, Jason Hodson, to obtain passing grades on exams for its unqualified students in Washington.

. . . Regulators in Washington shut down the school and Hodson lost his testing gig.

. . . The Washington Department of Licensing since Wednesday has so far declined to release information about who administered Singh’s driving test.

. . . Federal authorities are also investigating whether the issuance of Singh’s California license met federal rules.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, some applicants for a commercial driver’s license may skip a skills test requirement if the applicant turns over a commercial driver’s license from another state [in Singh's case, Washington] that is valid or has been expired for less than two years.

The California agency has not responded to specific questions about the process of issuing Singh’s commercial driver’s license.

Agency spokesperson Ronald Ongtoaboc said in an email that the state “followed all federal and state laws in reviewing and granting” Singh the license.

“The federal government confirmed Mr. Singh’s legal presence in the United States,” Ongtoaboc said.

However, news accounbts generally say that Singh entered the US illegally in 2018. In 2020, he applied for an employment authorization document, which allows foreign nationals to work legally in the U.S. This was rejected by the first Trump administration but later approved under Biden in 2021, but it wouid not have changed Singh's illegal immigration status.

Singh's English language proficiency is a separate question:

Authorities with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Singh failed an English proficiency test after the wreck, answering only two of 12 questions correctly, according to [Transportation Secretary Sean] Duffy. Singh correctly identified one out of four highway traffic signs, Duffy said.

Olson, the Washington licensing spokesperson, said a commercial licensing exam is conducted entirely in English.

“English proficiency is not evaluated as a separate skill,” he wrote in an email to the news organization, “but is necessary to complete the skills exam successfully.”

Meanwhile, the federal transportation agency said New Mexico State Police conducted “a roadside inspection” of Singh last month and issued him a speeding ticket but authorities say “there is no indication” that New Mexico police conducted an English proficiency test, a requirement since June.

As a regular viewer of On Patrol: Live, the TV show that features ride-alongs with police departments across the US, I've noted that encounters with illegals have sharply increased over the past few years, but the departments tend to downplay them when they occur during the ride-alongs. Still, when a car is pulled over and the driver either speaks no English or very little and has no license, registration, or insurance, the situation is pretty clear.

The state or local agencies simply never raise the issue of immigration status; they do what they can to resolve the specific traffic issue, but if the individual is unable to answer simple questions about identity or home address due to actual or feigned inablility to understand the officers, police can do little other than throw up their hands and send them on their way. It looks like something like this happened a few months earlier when Singh was stopped in New Mexico, but this just kicks the can down the road until the inevitable finally happens. (UPDATE: New Mexico has not begun to enforce the English proficiency test.)

There's another puzzle about Singh's Florida accident: from all accounts, Singh wandered around the scene in the aftermath, and the link above says he was given an an English proficiency test after the wreck, which he failed. But apparently he was neither detained nor arrested; he was apparently free to leave, and he and his fellow driver flew home to California. According to the US Marshals Service,

An investigation revealed Singh and his passenger, Harneet Singh, flew to Sacramento, California, August 13. An arrest warrant was issued August 15.

. . . U.S. Marshals received the warrant and associated information from FHP August 16 and collateral lead was sent to the Eastern District of California. U.S. Marshals and Task Force Officers responded to an address associated with Singh in Stockton. They identified Singh as the lone occupant of a vehicle that arrived during surveillance of the location.

Singh was taken into custody without incident. He was booked at the San Joaquin County Jail to await initial appearance. An immigration detainer was also filed on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Singh was extradited to Florida Friday and made his firsr court appearance Saturday morning.

He appeared silent during most of the hearing and did not initially respond to the judge’s questions, even when asked if he wanted legal representation.

Interpreters were brought in to assist, but Singh remained mostly unresponsive. Eventually, when the public defender acting as a friend of the court recommended appointing counsel, the interpreter was able to get Singh to respond, saying, “That’s fine.”

It seems as though law enforcement so far doesn't have the resources, training, or experience needed to deal effectively with this problem, and violators can do pretty well for themselves by just refusing to answer or understand questions. There needs to be a way to get Homeland Security involved in these cases much more quickly.