WASHINGTON, D.C. — St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security this week about a deadly crash on the Florida Turnpike involving an illegal immigrant truck driver, calling for uniform national standards to prevent similar tragedies.

The crash occurred last August when Indian national Harjinder Singh, who was in the country illegally, allegedly made an illegal U-turn on the Turnpike, causing a minivan to crash into the rear of his semi truck and killing three people. It was later discovered that Singh should not have been holding a commercial driver's license. Despite failing English proficiency and road sign tests, he had been issued a CDL by a state that Del Toro described as a "blue state."

"It was a national story obviously because of the fact of the non-domicile CDL issue by an illegal immigrant that came over the border I believe in 2018, was issued a notice to appear and then failed a test in the state of Washington I believe 10 times before obtaining it in California," Del Toro told lawmakers.

The sheriff used his testimony to draw attention to the human cost of inconsistent licensing standards across states. "For the families of those victims this is not a policy debate, it's a permanent loss," Del Toro said. "Highway safety is not a partisan issue. It is a public safety responsibility."

Del Toro told the committee that Florida has already taken steps to strengthen its licensing system in response to the incident, including electronic verification of immigration status, requiring drivers with temporary legal status to apply for licenses in person, and mandating that all driver's license testing be conducted in English. However, he warned that varying standards between states create dangerous vulnerabilities. "When these standards vary between states, those inconsistencies can create vulnerabilities that place our communities at risk," he said.

^{Photo credit: Committee on Homeland Security}

Singh has pleaded not guilty to charges including vehicular homicide and remains behind bars in St. Lucie County.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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