Opinion
By Steve Nicklas, 9-1-15
The cesspool of California politics is overflowing into other parts of the country, depositing a sludge-like residue of migrant crime, illegal immigration and corruption.
Florida just got a whiff of the smelly California effluent. Three Florida residents died in a horrific car crash last month after an illegal alien with a California truckers’ license attempted a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike.
In an aggravating development, the driver, Harjinder Singh from India, could not fluently speak or read English. But irresponsible California gave him a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), while Floridians and other Americans suffer the consequences.
Gov. Ron DeSantis took notice. “It’s a predictable outcome of leftist policies being put in place,” DeSantis said. “The reality is that the sanctuary policies of California are spilling over and impacting people around the country. And this is a great example.”
Once again, illegals are infiltrating the U.S. work force. An estimated 500,000 migrants have been issued CDLs, impeding U.S. Highways and causing havoc.
Singh hardly showed remorse after the minivan got pinned under the bed of his tractor-trailer, killing the driver and two passengers instantly. Singh tried to illegally turn across a cutout for police and fire vehicles. The passengers in the minivan were legal immigrants/visitors from Haiti.
“It’s because this guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing,” DeSantis said. “It didn’t even faze him that this had happened. This guy didn’t care.”
DeSantis sent his lieutenant governor to California to extradite Singh. He will be prosecuted in Florida for his actions. “But that’s not enough,” DeSantis said, calling for Congress to discontinue this Biden-era practice.
Non-domiciled CDLs came about through a trucking task force initiated by the Biden administration. Ten states are issuing these licenses based on flimsy visitor visas and other employment documents.
These insourced applicants can even receive stipends toward trucking schools. They are hired under the guise of a trucker shortage in the U.S., which industry insiders dispute. Reputable trucking firms have had to subsidize losses from companies hiring these impaired drivers.
“There are people all across this country who are broken-hearted, they’re broken-spirited,” said Shannon Everett of American Truckers United, “because their families have been killed and they don’t understand the circumstances of how that was possible.”
Unfortunately, states like California issuing these licenses to illegals have immunity from claims. The company that hired Singh has had its operating license pulled by the Trump administration, however.
“But unless these sanctuary jurisdictions like California are reigned in,” DeSantis, said, “you are going to continue to expose Americans in other states to the problems that flow from not caring about borders or the rule of law.”
Steve Nicklas is a financial advisor/columnist who lives in Nassau County. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or at [email protected].
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida
