Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued civil and criminal subpoenas Thursday to White Hawk Carriers, the trucking company that employed an illegal immigrant involved in the fatal freeway crash that killed three people in August.
The Aug. 12 vehicle crash made national headlines after authorities identified the White Hawk Carrier-employed driver as an illegal immigrant who could face homicide charges for the crash. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a federal investigation into the incident.
The driver of the 18-wheeler, Harjinder Singh, failed an English proficiency exam following the crash, months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that included enforcing English proficiency requirements for truck drivers.
“This guy did not know how to speak English, he could not read road signs, he never should have received that [commercial driver’s license] in the first place,” Uthmeier said Thursday. “Not only was he illegally here in the country, but he also did not have the competency, the skill set. There’s no way he went through the proper training in order to get this license.”
In addition to subpoenaing White Hawk Carriers, Uthmeier sent legal demands to Washington state and California — two of the three states named in the Transportation Department’s initial findings of the investigation. Uthmeier said the legal demands are “to get as much information as possible in how this individual obtained these licenses.” Uthmeier says he sees a “legal fight ahead” against the two blue states.
Washington state issued Singh a regular CDL in July 2023, a license that illegal immigrants are not eligible for, according to the Transportation Department. California issued Singh a “limited-term, non-domiciled CDL” in July 2024, and the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is investigating “whether it was issued in accordance with Federal regulations,” according to the DOT.
“What you are seeing is a whole-of-government approach to address this crisis in our trucking industry. This is a commonsense way to ensure the safety of America’s roads,” a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in response to Uthmeier’s subpoenas.
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New Mexico was also named in the preliminary findings as its state police did not administer an English language proficiency test when giving Singh a speeding ticket in July, violating Duffy’s ELP test requirement, according to a DOT press release. Uthmeier has not yet sent legal demands to New Mexico.
White Hawk Carriers did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
