A California father whose 7-year-old daughter was left permanently disabled after a crash involving an illegal alien truck driver sharply criticized liberal lawmakers on Tuesday.
“I reject your guys’ sympathy,” Marcus Coleman said during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing focused on sanctuary policies.
Coleman’s daughter, Dalilah, sustained a fractured skull, a broken femur and a traumatic brain injury when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer crashed into the vehicle she was riding in Southern California in 2024.
Authorities said the truck was driven by Partap Singh, an illegal alien from India who had secured a California commercial driver’s license.
“Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety,” ICE told The California Post. “This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.”
Officials said Singh was traveling 60 mph, driving at an unsafe speed and did not stop for traffic in a construction zone.
The impact of the crash extended beyond Dalilah’s injuries, upending Coleman’s ability to support his household.
Coleman said he left his job as a truck driver and is now struggling financially while caring for nine children.
“I’m no longer truck driving. I no longer make the money that we used to make. I’m now pinching pennies,” Coleman said. “I have nine kids, by the way, that I take care of, and I had to sit there and stretch that.”
Coleman said Democratic lawmakers never reached out after his daughter’s catastrophic injuries.
“Not one of you guys have ever sat there and seen me in the hallways and said, ‘Hey, sorry about your daughter.’ You guys do it right here where you guys are grandstanding on top of your soapbox,” he said. “This is when you guys care. Right here inside this room is the only time you guys care.”
California became a sanctuary state in October 2017 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act.
The state is also classified as a sanctuary jurisdiction by the US Department of Justice.
The law bars state and local police from investigating, interrogating or detaining people solely for federal immigration enforcement purposes.
Local jails generally cannot hold someone beyond a scheduled release date simply because ICE has issued a detainer request.
The law does allow cooperation with federal immigration authorities involving certain serious or violent felony convictions.
Coleman blasted the sanctuary approach.
“I think that building needs to get checked for mold or something, because you guys are really out of your guys’ mind thinking that sanctuary cities are the way to go,” he told Democratic lawmakers.
“This is the end result of Sanctuary City right here,” Coleman said, pointing to his daughter.
He also contrasted his wife’s legal immigration with illegal entry.
“My wife, an immigrant. She did what she’s supposed to do,” Coleman said. “She did exactly what she’s supposed to do to get here.”
Patricia Fox, another mother testifying at the hearing, described the devastation her family has endured after a separate crash involving an illegal alien.
Fox said her daughter, Carissa “Luu” Aspnes, was permanently disabled after a March 2025 hit-and-run in Colorado involving an illegal from Venezuela.
The driver and passenger fled without checking whether she was alive.
“Despite her initial prognosis, Carissa survived. Praise God, but survival and recovery are not the same,” Fox testified.
Fox said her daughter cannot sit up or stand on her own.
She uses a Hoyer lift to get Aspnes out of bed, blends her food and feeds her through a G-tube, administers medication and bathes her.
At night, she sleeps lightly in case her daughter’s pulse oximeter sounds an alarm.
Fox also told Democrats to put American lives ahead of their fight with Trump.
“You need to love Americans more than you hate Trump,” she added. “It’s literally your job.”
Coleman ended with a warning for the Democrats he holds responsible.
“She didn’t ask for any of this,” he said of Dalilah. “The people that jumped the fence did though. They knew exactly what they were doing. They still chose to move forward in that direction. And every day something’s happening to somebody, and it is your guys’ fault. I hold each and every one of you responsible for it, and I always will.”
