How policy failures turned an illegal crossing into a commercial license.
By: Beautiful Truth | Distorted Truths | September 11, 2025
Source: Based on reporting from Fox News, AP, Times of India, and Indiatimes
SUMMARY
Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old Indian national who crossed the border illegally in 2018, received a California CDL after the Biden administration approved his work permit. In August, he made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike that killed three people — Haitian immigrants who never made it home. That’s the headline.
But here’s where I come in as a CDL driver: this isn’t just about Singh’s mistake, or which politician is pointing fingers. It’s about a system that lowered its standards and put all of us at risk.
TODAY’S TRUTH
Accountability in politics always seems to be a slippery slope. And Beautiful Truth isn’t about to sugarcoat this or play partisan games — because at the end of the day, three people lost their lives. Regardless of what their citizenship status was, no non-citizen should ever be given the keys to an 80,000-pound truck on America’s highways. Period.
I’ve been a CDL-A driver for four years, with a clean record and no accidents. And I’ll tell you — driving a truck is nothing like driving a car. A car weighs about 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, but my truck, fully loaded, weighs up to 80,000 pounds — the weight of twenty cars combined. A car can stop in roughly 120 feet, while my truck may need 600 feet, nearly two football fields, to come to a complete stop. And while a car can make a U-turn in seconds, the pivot of my trailer means one wrong move can block every single lane and turn the highway into a disaster.
This is why CDL drivers are held to demanding standards: background checks, drug tests, hours-of-service rules, pre- and post-trip inspections, and ELDs — with paper logbooks only as backup. And all of that comes before you even stick the key in the ignition to start rolling. These rules aren’t paperwork. They’re life-saving discipline.
You don’t just get a CDL. You earn it.
That’s why standards exist. But in Singh’s case, the system didn’t just lower the bar — it erased it. So how did someone who crossed illegally in 2018 end up with a commercial license in California? The answer is paperwork — and that paperwork cost lives.
Trump’s DHS denied his work permit in 2020. Biden’s DHS approved it in 2021. Once that approval went through, California’s DMV was legally bound to issue him a CDL. They didn’t break the rules. The rules broke us. And Beautiful Truth is here to say the system failed, not just the state.
Here’s my truth: California didn’t invent this loophole. Once the federal government approved Singh’s work permit, the DMV had no choice under the law but to issue him that CDL. If you want accountability, don’t stop at California — fix the cracks in the federal system.
A work permit is not residency. A work permit is not citizenship. A work permit may let you clock in — but it should never be enough to put 40 tons of steel under somebody’s control. — Beautiful Truth
And while the politicians argue about permits and loopholes, another tragedy is unfolding — not on the highway, but in the community. Sikh truckers across America — men and women who are legal, hardworking, and keeping this industry alive — are being harassed at truck stops, insulted online, and treated like suspects because of their turbans and their faith. That’s not accountability — that’s prejudice. One man’s failure does not erase the thousands of safe, disciplined miles logged every day by drivers who only resemble him.
But here’s the part that really stings: in Singh’s own country of origin — India — this would never have happened. Their standards for commercial drivers make ours look like child’s play.
To qualify for a commercial license in India, you must be a citizen or permanent resident; temporary paperwork isn’t enough. You have to hold a private license for at least a year before you can even apply.
From there, drivers are required to complete mandatory training hours at a government-approved driving school, no shortcuts allowed. Then comes a rigorous written exam on road signs, traffic law, and safety protocols, followed by a supervised road test where inspectors watch your every move.
On top of that, drivers must undergo a full medical fitness evaluation — vision, hearing, and overall health included — and they’re required to renew and re-certify on a regular basis. In short, India demands that commercial drivers prove experience, skill, and health before they ever touch the wheel of a truck. Their system doesn’t rely on loopholes. They demand accountability from the very start.
Meanwhile, in America, paperwork was enough. And that’s the bitter truth: when we lower our standards, people die. Period. Point. Blank.
So here we are: three people gone in Florida because America lowered its bar. Families are mourning while politicians argue. And the fallout was so severe that the U.S. briefly froze work visas for commercial drivers nationwide, throwing thousands of immigrant workers into limbo.
If we are serious about protecting lives, CDL eligibility must be tied to citizenship or permanent residency — not temporary documents. If I, as a driver, have to prove discipline, hours, and inspections every single day, then our system should prove it too. The question is this: do we value lives enough to raise the bar, or will we keep lowering it until another tragedy proves the cost again?
You don’t hand over responsibility to somebody who hasn’t put in the work — a driver without the right training and status has no business behind the wheel of 40 tons of steel.
“You don’t hand a plow to a man who never touched the dirt.”
Thank you all for reading–not just for opinions, but for principle, fairness, and clarity.
— Beautiful Truth
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