Democratic California Governor has once again offered an excuse for not contacting the family of a young girl whose life has forever changed after she was victimized by an illegal immigrant truck driver with a commercial driver’s license from the Golden State.
President Donald Trump brought Dalilah Coleman, 7, and her father, Marcus, as guests to his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. Dalilah was severely injured in a multi-car pileup in 2024 allegedly caused by Indian illegal immigrant Partap Singh, who was behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler with a California-issued commercial driver’s license.
Dalilah suffered a traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and developmental delay. She currently cannot eat orally and has to learn to walk again.
Marcus has repeatedly stated that Newsom has failed to offer his sympathies directly.
Dalilah’s father, who happens to be a truck driver himself, shared his frustrations with Newsom’s silence.
“How do you not see Dalilah? How do you allow politics to blind you from a five-year-old girl at the time whose life is forever changed, and your only answer is it’s the federal government,” Marcus told The Daily Wire.
Newsom finally broke his silence on Wednesday.
“What happened to Dalilah is heartbreaking, and we commend her family for turning their grief into advocacy,” Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo told The Daily Wire.
“While our Constituent Affairs team has no record of outreach from the Coleman family, we would welcome the opportunity to connect them to available state resources,” Crofts-Pelayo said.
Newsom’s office failed to respond to a follow-up question asking if he regrets handing the illegal immigrant trucker a commercial driver’s license.
Singh has since been taken into federal immigration custody.
Trump recognized Dalilah and her father Tuesday night as he highlighted a surge in illegal immigrant trucking crashes and vowed to address the issue.
“We will take care of this problem,” Trump said Tuesday. “We’re going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games. Dalilah — Dalilah Coleman was only 5 years old in June 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer plowed into her stopped car, traveling at 60 miles an hour or more. The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders, politicians, and California. Doctors said Dalilah would never be able to walk or talk, have a good life.”
“She wouldn’t even be able to eat again. But against all odds, she is now in the first grade, learning to walk, and she is here this evening with her dad, Marcus, a fantastic man. Dalilah, please, you are a great inspiration. Please stand up. Thank you, Dalilah,” Trump said.
The Department of Transportation has threatened to withhold federal funding from Democratic states issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. The Trump administration is currently holding up roughly $160 million from Newsom’s California “for failing to cancel over 17,000 illegally issued” commercial driver’s licenses “by the agreed-upon deadline of January 5, 2026.”
Newsom has responded by blaming the federal government for issuing work permits to illegal immigrant truckers.
Trump also vowed to enact legislation dubbed “The Dalilah Law” to ban states from “granting commercial licenses to illegal aliens.” Republican Indiana Senator Jim Banks will formally introduce the bill Wednesday afternoon.
“Many, if not 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.
