Noem warns 18-wheelers becoming ‘weapons’ as Newsom, sanctuary states license illegal immigrants

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is calling out sanctuary states for purportedly allowing illegal immigrants to get commercial driver’s licenses, warning that untrained drivers are turning 18-wheelers into "weapons."

Noem singled out California Gov. Gavin Newsom after three people were killed on Oct. 21 in a crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver.

"He is handing out driver’s licenses to people with no documentation. Some of these individuals aren’t even giving a name," Noem said Thursday on "America Reports."

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, center, speaks during a press conference in Gary, Indiana, on Oct. 30 alongside state and federal officials. (Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images)

The secretary said they’ve uncovered driver’s licenses that read "no name given" that were used to get commercial driver’s licenses.

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"Gov. Newsom needs to understand that saving lives is the number-one priority," she said.

Both Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have accused Newsom of enabling immigrants in the country illegally to obtain commercial licenses.

Their renewed scrutiny of the issue comes after the Oct. 21 crash on a Southern California freeway, where 21-year-old Indian national Jashanpreet Singh allegedly drove a semi-truck while under the influence, triggering a multi-car pileup that resulted in three fatalities. 

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"We’re really seeing and peeling back the onion on who is allowing these dangerous individuals to get on our roads and get behind 18-wheelers that turn into weapons when they don’t know how to use them, they don’t know how to operate them, and they can’t speak our language or interpret our laws," she added.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a bill signing Aug. 21 in Sacramento, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Newsom’s office blamed the federal government for the crash, arguing its policies ultimately allowed the suspect to receive a license, saying California’s commercial driver's licensing laws comply with federal regulations.

"Lost in the immigrant-bashing is the fact that drivers holding a California-issued CDL are involved in fatal crashes at a rate far lower than the national average," a Newsom spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.

"If the focus were on safety, California should be a poster child, not a scapegoat."

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Noem added that DHS’s immigration enforcement efforts have already led to the arrests of dozens of illegal immigrant truck drivers.

"Operation Midway Blitz has already removed over 140 illegal alien truck drivers in Indiana. The brave men and women of @ICEgov and the Indiana State Police are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads," Noem wrote on X, formerly Twitter.