The father of a 7-year-old who was left with a traumatic brain injury from a severe car crash slammed Democrats for opposing legislation that would strengthen requirements for commercial driver’s licenses and prevent unqualified and illegal immigrants from obtaining them.
The legislation, Dalilah’s Law, refers to Dalilah Coleman, who was left severely injured in 2024 after an illegal immigrant driving an 18-wheel tractor-trailer moving at 60 miles per hour slammed into a car she was traveling in.
Marcus Coleman, Dalilah’s father, said the legislation is “plain and simple.”
“This is road safety,” Coleman said during a Republican Study Committee roundtable on Thursday. “We’re not targeting truckers. I’m a trucker. We’re not targeting immigrants, she’s an immigrant [and] our family is an immigrant … We’re targeting people who shouldn’t be on the road.”
Dalilah’s Law, which Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) introduced, would ensure CDL holders are proficient in English, place drivers who fail to meet the requirements as out-of-service, and require states to verify that they are not issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants.
The law also includes a compliance check tied to receiving federal funding from the Department of Transportation, making states enforce the legislation or risk losing dollars for their federal highway and transportation.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the bill in a 35-26 vote, sending it to the House Floor for a vote next week.
President Donald Trump championed the legislation during his State of the Union address in February, calling for legislation blocking illegal immigrants from obtaining CDLs. The Coleman family attended the address as the president’s guests.
Coleman dubbed the legislation “common sense,” saying it was a “shame” that Democrats didn’t support it in committee.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) both cited that less than 1% of truck crash fatalities were caused by non-domicile drivers when arguing against the legislation.
Coleman, who attended the committee vote in person, recounted that moment during the roundtable, condemning Democratic members of Congress.
“Well, we’re that 1% and, to us, that’s a big number,” Coleman said during the roundtable. “For him to sit there and stand and say, ‘It’s less than 1% we’re not going to wreck the entire trucking industry behind the 1%’ — 1% is huge.”
“I don’t understand how Democrats sit there and think that 1% is not a big number,” he continued.
Coleman called for bipartisan support during the Republican-led roundtable, arguing the legislation addresses a “real safety issue.”
DUFFY ANNOUNCES ALL COMMERCIAL DRIVERS LICENSE TESTS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN IN ENGLISH
“They said yesterday in the hearing that there are no Republican or Democrat roads, just U.S. roads, and I find that to be 100% true,” Coleman said. “I would hope everyone would get together with their counterparts on the Democrat side and try to persuade them, to convince them that this is a real safety issue.”
The House is expected to vote on Dalilah’s Law next week.
