A recent and tragic crash in Ontario, California that involved an immigrant truck driver. The accident has led to increased federal backlash over the ways immigrant trucking operators are monitored. The shooting has further taken the lives of at least three and injured many more. It has raised alarm bells over lax safety regulations and the exploitation of immigrant drivers in the industry.
On the day of the incident, Jashanpreet Singh, 21 of India, was behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer. He was on Interstate 10, roughly 26 miles to the west of San Bernardino. Singh’s vehicle was unable to brake in time, causing a tragic chain-reaction crash with eight vehicles.
That collision was a tragedy, in every sense of the word, leaving three people dead. Two passengers in the minivan died on the scene, and the driver died from her injuries later at a hospital. Even more importantly, four others were injured in the traumatic wake of this crash, which ignited a response from emergency medical and rescue crews.
Law enforcement officials arrested Singh at the scene that night and he was subsequently booked into the jail. Investigators believe he was impaired at the time of the fatal incident, allegedly using both fentanyl and methamphetamine. Singh now faces three felony charges as a result. Those charges are three counts of intoxicated manslaughter and DUI causing injury. In the least surprising twist so far, he’s scheduled to appear for his arraignment on Friday.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials later acknowledged that Singh had illegally entered the United States in 2022. He gave himself 10 weeks to do so, crossing the southern border. His immigration status may have been enough to overshadow an already tragic event with another layer of complexity.
Bhupinder Kaur of a new advocacy group, the Immigrant Workers Centre. In it, she discussed how immigrant drivers face more intense scrutiny after they’ve been in an accident. Kaur noted that the media frequently highlights the immigration status of immigrant drivers who find themselves in violent, anti-Black situations. By contrast, information on all other non-immigrant drivers is generally kept private.
“Yet they face unequal scrutiny and coverage,” – Bhupinder Kaur
Kaur took the analysis further by condemning the rush to judgment in these cases.
“Selective transparency distorts public understanding and can even influence legal outcomes,” – Bhupinder Kaur
She pointed out that law enforcement agencies, along with social media, are quick to identify and expose the immigration status of immigrant drivers. This practice almost never goes towards non-immigrant drivers.
“The discretion officials cite as ‘privacy’ elsewhere seems to vanish when the driver is an immigrant,” – Bhupinder Kaur
The crash has sparked discussions about the qualifications and language barriers faced by immigrant truck drivers in the U.S. Duffy, a former U.S. transportation safety chief, opined on this troubling trend.
“A driver who can’t understand English will not drive a commercial vehicle in this country. Period,” – Duffy
The recent incident at Montgomery raises fundamental questions about trucking industry hiring practices. It puts a spotlight on the need for improved safety protocols, especially for drivers with limited English proficiency. Advocates argue that heightened scrutiny on immigrant drivers should not overshadow the need for comprehensive safety measures that apply equally across all drivers.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the crash. They aim to hold Singh’s employer accountable for what led up to the crash, and to look into the employment conditions that allow someone like Singh to work as a truck driver in the United States. This case is a critical example of the link between immigration policy and public safety. It deserves a rational debate on all sides of these even more complicated issues.
