Marcus Coleman, whose seven-year-old daughter Dalilah was left permanently disabled in a 2024 crash, told Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week that he rejected their sympathy, accusing them of only caring while cameras were rolling. In a subsequent interview with Fox News, he said Democratic representatives spoke a "language" of "ignorance" that he struggled to make them understand, framing his criticism within the wider debate over illegal immigration and border security.

Dalilah was critically injured when an 18-wheeler travelling at roughly 60mph struck the car she was in; the Department of Homeland Security identified the driver as Partap Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who held a Californian commercial driving licence, and said he had been speeding and failed to stop at a construction zone. Coleman told lawmakers none of them had personally called or reached out to him outside the hearing room, accusing them of "grandstanding," while Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal had separately questioned the value of holding a fourth committee hearing on sanctuary cities. Coleman said exhaustion from caring for his daughter on around four hours' sleep a night has not deterred him from continuing to advocate for tighter border policy.