The heartbroken father of a 5-year-old girl seriously harmed in a deadly multi-vehicle crash is accusing Governor Gavin Newsom of blocking the family’s requests for help, the New York Post reports. The incident occurred in 2024 when an illegal immigrant truck driver, Partap Singh, sped through a construction zone and collided with the family’s vehicle, leaving the little girl with severe, life-altering injuries.

Dalilah Coleman, now seven, spent weeks unconscious and months in the hospital following the traumatic accident. She lost the ability to speak and is currently learning to walk again after doctors performed extensive surgery, including a craniectomy. The accident also caused serious injuries to her skull and left her with cerebral palsy and global developmental delays that will require ongoing therapy, according to The Post.

The outlet reports, Singh, who entered the United States illegally from India, had been licensed to drive a commercial truck by the state despite concerns about his immigration status. Authorities say the collision happened because he did not stop for traffic in a work zone. The Department of Homeland Security has noted the broader context of Singh’s case, including later actions by immigration authorities.

Marcus Coleman, Dalilah’s father, said he reached out to the governor’s office multiple times via phone and email but received no response. He told Fox News’s ‘The Will Cain Show’ that the family has also been denied other forms of assistance, including Social Security benefits, and that they are struggling to cover their daughter’s ongoing medical needs.

Coleman, who works as a truck driver himself, criticized California’s licensing practices for foreign-born truck drivers, calling the situation dangerous and saying it reflects lax regulations. He suggested that political considerations were taking priority over public safety, and he directed his frustration toward state leadership, including Newsom.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed these concerns, stating on social media that California’s leadership is failing ordinary Americans like Dalilah. He said Newsom’s public acknowledgment of the family’s situation has been minimal, noting only a September post on social media in which Newsom criticized federal officials for politicizing the crash.

Newsom later argued that the federal government had issued a work permit to the driver, with a renewal following the accident, which would authorize him to drive in California and other states. He urged critics to avoid spreading “misleading information.”

In a separate development, a state audit last year led to the revocation of about 17,000 CDs licenses that had been issued to immigrants, after investigators found that some expiration dates extended beyond the drivers’ authorized stay in the United States.