The three victims of the Indian immigrant truck driver who made an illegal U-turn across a Florida highway earlier this month have been identified as Haitian immigrants, according to officials.
The driver Herby Dufresne, 30, and passengers Faniola Joseph, 27, and Rodrigue Dor, 53, all Haitian immigrants, were in their minivan when it plowed into the side of an 18-wheeler driven by Harjinder Singh, an immigrant from India, on Aug. 12, the Miami Herald reported.
Dufresne arrived in Miami in December 2023 from Port-au-Prince and was given a two-year permit to live and work in the US after obtaining a financial sponsor under a Biden-era program, the outlet reported, citing a friend of the victim.
No information was provided on Joseph and Dor’s arrival or immigration status other than that they previously lived in Florida, the Miami Herald reported.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
At the time of the fatal accident, all three men were on the way to Indiana, where Dor relocated after failing to secure work in Miami, a friend told the outlet.
Footage from the driver’s side of Singh’s truck showed him making a wide U-turn on the Florida Turnpike — with the minivan plowing into its side and wedging itself partially underneath the tow bed. The 28-year-old barely reacts to the visibly devastating crash, video showed.
Singh, an illegal migrant from India, came to the United States in 2018, failed English proficiency exams administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after the April 12 crash.
He was able to accurately read only one of four signs he was presented during that test, Department of Transportation officials said.
After being nearly deported in 2018, Singh was granted a work permit under the Biden administration in 2021.
The now-Florida inmate received his commercial driver’s license in California in 2024 and received one in Washington in 2023, according to the DOT.
CDL tests are only administered in English in California, while in Washington, they can be taken in English, Spanish, Russian, or Serbian-Croatian.
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