President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address Tuesday highlighted an issue that has been front-and-center in trucking for the last year -- his administration’s moves against on non-citizens obtaining CDLs in the U.S. and driving trucks.
In attendance at the address was truck-crash victim Dalilah Coleman and her father, Marcus.
"Dalilah Coleman was only five years old in June 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, traveling at 60 miles an hour or more, plowed into her stopped car," Trump said. "The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver's license by open-borders politicians in California.”
The Department of Homeland Security highlighted Coleman’s case back in September. The driver of the truck involved in her crash was Partap Singh -- an Indian national. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) Traffic Crash Report noted that Singh drove at an unsafe speed and failed to stop for traffic and a construction zone. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Singh on Aug. 29, 2025.
Marcus Coleman holding his daughter, Dalilah, at the 2026 State of the Union address.
She also had a broken femur, skull fractures, and has since been diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, and will need life-long therapy.
“But against all odds, she is now in the first grade, learning to walk,” Trump said Tuesday night.
Trump then called on Congress to pass a new law -- the Dalilah Law -- “barring any state from granting” CDLs to “illegal aliens,” he said. It's already illegal for immigrants not legally present in the U.S. to obtain a CDL, but federal investigations have found states have improperly issued licenses. It's unclear what specifically Trump's proposed law would do.
“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. “That's why tonight I'm calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Delilah Law, barring any state from granting commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens.”
Details on the Dalilah Law are scant, but Dalilah’s father Marcus did provide some detail in a post on X about how it would target “chameleon carriers” in trucking by requiring that commercial vehicles have a permanent business name on them that is not magnetized, unless a special permit is issued per VIN to utilize a magnetized DOT number.
Another post from Coleman said the law will cover all commercial drivers, including gig economy drivers such as Amazon, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash and Walmart.
Coleman also said Dalilah’s Law would require applicants for DOT numbers to submit fingerprints to establish a new DOT number, with the intent of stopping people from establishing a new business “if your previous authority" and/or "insurance was revoked due to bad practices.”
Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called the proposed law "commonsense."
“I also commend the President for proposing the ‘Dalilah Law,’ legislation to prevent states from issuing commercial driver's licenses (CDL) to illegal aliens and increase safety on our roads," Graves said, then pivoted to already existing requirements for CDL drivers to possess proficiency with the English language. "It’s only commonsense that truck drivers and people operating with CDLs in the U.S. should be able to read English and understand our laws, road signs, and law enforcement officers."
Trump’s call for passage of the Dalilah Law comes amid an ongoing push by the Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to increase enforcement of ELP standards, limit which categories of visa holders can obtain non-domiciled CDLs, and to shut down “chameleon carriers,” CDL mills and other bad actors in trucking.
[Related: FMCSA announces rapid actions to shut down chameleon carriers, 'CDLs mills,' ELD cheating]
