NEW YORK — President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a federal law banning states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to people living in the United States illegally, citing a trucking accident that injured a young child.
Speaking during his State of the Union address to Congress, Trump said he was urging lawmakers to pass what he called the “Dalilah Law,” which would bar states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented migrants.
“I’m calling on Congress to pass a law that we will call ‘The Dalilah Law,’ barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens,” Trump said.
The proposed law is named after Dalilah Coleman, a child who was injured in the accident and was present in the public gallery during the address. Trump called her to stand, prompting a standing ovation from lawmakers as her father, Marcus Coleman, lifted her up.
Trump raised Dalilah’s case while criticizing illegal immigration, which he blamed on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and cited several incidents involving undocumented migrants. He did not name the truck driver involved in the accident or specify the driver’s country of origin, saying only that “the driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders politicians in California.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security later identified the driver as Partap Singh, who entered the United States from Mexico in October 2022.
After the accident, Trump said doctors told Dalilah’s family that she would never walk, talk, eat on her own, or have a good quality of life. He described her as an “inspiration,” adding that she has since recovered and “is now in the first grade, learning to walk.”
“Most illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger or location,” Trump said.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the accident occurred in California in June 2024 when an 18-wheeler truck driven by Singh was allegedly traveling at a high speed and failed to stop in a construction zone, triggering a multi-vehicle crash that injured several people. The department said Dalilah was in a coma for three weeks and required six months of hospital treatment before she could return home.
The department also said at least three other undocumented migrants from India have been involved in trucking crashes in the United States and are facing deportation. (Source: IANS)
