Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office claims it has no records of outreach from a family irreparably harmed by an illegal migrant truck driver, but phone records show otherwise.
Newsom staffers have repeatedly stated that their constituent affairs team has zero records of outreach from Dalilah Coleman’s family after she was struck by an illegal migrant trucker in June 2024 and left with life-altering injuries. However, call logs obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation confirm Marcus Coleman, Dalilah’s father, reached out to Newsom’s office just days after the horrific crash and left a message.
“It would be equivalent to somebody cold calling because I called them and I explained to them what was going on,” Coleman told the DCNF. “They said that they would take the phone message, so I did that and then I also sent them an email, and then I received nothing back on either one.”
Dalilah was involved in a multi-car pileup in San Bernardino County, California, on June 20, 2024, with the crash leaving the first-grader unable to walk, talk, eat orally or attend school as planned, and requiring six months of hospital treatment before she could finally return home to her family. Local law enforcement arrested Partap Singh, an Indian national, and charged him with causing the horrific accident, with investigators stating that he drove at an unsafe speed and did not stop for traffic or a construction zone, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Coleman soon began learning more details about Singh that called into question how he was even able to get behind the wheel of a commercial big rig.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that the Indian national unlawfully entered the country in October 2022 and was released by the Biden administration, and Coleman later discovered that the trucking company involved was what’s known as a “chameleon carrier,” a company that repeatedly changes identity in order to remain in operation.
‘No Record’
The California father called Newsom’s office on June 25, 2024 — five days after the crash — at around 2:00pm and remained on the phone for roughly five minutes, according to call logs reviewed by the DCNF. Marcus, who dialed the same number Newsom currently encourages the public to use when attempting outreach, had hoped Newsom’s office would look into his daughter’s case and provide assistance.
“If I’m not mistaken, I believe I left a message or they transferred me to somebody where I left a message,” Coleman told the DCNF. “But yes, somebody called me back, because I remember physically speaking with somebody.”
While call logs confirmed Coleman did, in fact, call Newsom’s office and remain on the line for five minutes, the DCNF could not independently verify whether a staffer called him back. The phone records conflict with the official statement repeatedly provided by Newsom’s office since Dalilah’s story became national known.
“What happened to Dalilah is heartbreaking, and we commend her family for turning their grief into advocacy,” a Newsom spokesperson told the DCNF, repeating an official statement given to other news outlets in past weeks. “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.”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a follow-up request for comment about Coleman’s phone logs.
The term-limited governor is considered a top contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
For months, Newsom has consistently polled at the top or near the top in a crowded field of potential candidates for the next Democratic presidential primary. Califo — who openly confirmed that he is considering a run — has since made high-profile appearances across the country and his press team has seemingly attempted to mimic Trump’s brash social media style.
The Trump administration has dramatically cracked down on the scourge of illegal migrant truckers causing deadly wrecks across American highways, with his Department of Transportation (DOT) ushering in a slate of new rules that aim to keep commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) away from illegal migrants and other unqualified drivers. President Donald Trump highlighted this effort by inviting Coleman and Dalilah to his State of the Union address in February, where he announced his intention to pass “Dalilah’s Law.”
“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,” Trump said during the address. “The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders, politicians and California.”
“That’s why tonight I’m calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Dalilah law, barring any state from granting commercial licenses to illegal aliens,” the president continued.
Indiana GOP Sen. Jim Banks — who has has pushed the DOT to crack down on so-called chameleon carriers and invited truckers to report abuse through his office’s tip line — introduced Dalilah’s Law the day after Trump’s speech. If signed into law, the bill would force state governments to remove illegal migrant truckers from America’s highways in order to receive federal DOT funding.
Since the State of the Union Address, Coleman has begun working with Banks’ office and is actively pushing congressional lawmakers to support Dalilah’s Law. The California dad has a simple message for any congressmen or senator opposed to the bill’s passage.
“I don’t need to sit here and have a conversation with you,” Coleman told the DCNF. “I need you to sit here and see what my daughter’s going through because this is something that’s going to continue happening.”
“California is going to be against her bill. I already know they are, which is the saddest thing because this is something that happened in California,” he continued. “So all I want people to do is sit here and see her, come talk with her, come interact with her and then explain to me why you don’t want to pass the law.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
