What is Dalilah’s Law? Trump seeks license ban for illegal immigrants after Indian-origin driver case
In his longest-ever State of the Union address, President Donald Trump pressed Congress to pass “Dalilah’s Law,” a proposed measure that would bar states from issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, aligning with his administration’s hardline immigration policies.Trump said the legislation was named after Dalilah Coleman, a first-grade student who was severely injured in a car crash involving an undocumented Indian-origin truck driver who allegedly failed to stop his speeding vehicle.The president also slammed his predecessor Joe Biden over illegal immigrants footfall in the United States.“Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs…That’s why tonight, I’m calling on Congress to pass what we will call the ‘Dalilah Law’—barring any state from granting Commercial Drivers Licenses to illegal aliens,” said Donald Trump.The US president also called for broader criminal justice reforms to ensure that “violent and dangerous repeat offenders are put behind bars, and importantly, stay there.”According to the department of homeland security, Partap Singh was driving an 18-wheeler through a construction zone when he failed to stop, causing a devastating crash that left then five-year-old Dalilah critically injured.Singh allegedly entered the United States illegally through the southern border in October 2022 and was later released under the Biden administration. He was re-arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in August 2025 and is currently facing deportation proceedings.Dalilah spent three weeks in a coma and underwent six months of hospital treatment, including a craniectomy, before her family was able to bring her home. For four months, she lived without half her skull, according to the department of homeland security, citing her family.The New York Post reported that the crash left Dalilah unable to eat orally. She suffered a broken femur and multiple skull fractures and has since been diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy and global developmental delay, conditions that will require lifelong therapy.Now 7-years-old, Dalilah attended Trump’s State of the Union address, where he announced the proposal named in her honour. According to the New York Post, she is relearning how to walk following the traumatic 2024 accident that struck her family’s vehicle.
