A fiery chain-reaction crash on the I-10 in Ontario, California, left three Americans dead and several more injured when an 18-wheeler plowed into stopped traffic, authorities say. The truck driver, identified as 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, was arrested and booked on multiple counts including gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence after video showed he never attempted to brake.
This terrible loss turned familiar names into grieving families when two of the victims were identified as Clarence Nelson, a beloved Pomona High School assistant basketball coach, and his wife Lisa Nelson. Communities that once trusted the safety of our roads are now mourning teachers, coaches, and neighbors, wondering how a preventable risk became reality.
Federal officials say Singh entered the country in 2022 and was in the United States without lawful permanent status, and ICE lodged a detainer after his arrest — facts that reopen the real-world consequences of porous border policies. Local prosecutors are pursuing serious charges, yet the families of the dead deserve more than courtroom justice; they deserve commonsense policies that keep dangerous, impaired drivers off our highways.
This horror was not simply the act of one reckless man; it exposed a chilling administrative failure. The Department of Transportation issued emergency rules on September 26 to tighten who can hold non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, and federal investigators say California upgraded this driver’s privileges on October 15 without applying the stricter standards — a bureaucratic lapse with deadly consequences.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rightly pointed to a “disturbing pattern” of illegal aliens being issued commercial licenses and pinned responsibility on state officials who ignored federal warnings, a point amplified by conservative commentators including those on the Rubin Report. The outrage is not partisan theatrics; it is a sober demand that the rule of law and public safety come first, not political virtue signaling.
Enough excuses. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has already begun to hold California accountable, withholding federal highway funds and threatening further action if states refuse to follow federal safety mandates. Patriots who pay taxes and lose loved ones to policy failures should demand that Washington follow through: rip up the loopholes, restore federal oversight, and secure our borders so grieving families are never again left asking why their government chose ideology over their safety.
