At a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary policies, Marcus Coleman, whose seven-year-old daughter Dalilah was left permanently disabled after a 2024 crash involving an undocumented lorry driver in California, publicly rejected sympathy from Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of only feigning concern for political theatre while never reaching out to his family privately. His testimony formed part of a broader Republican effort to argue that sanctuary jurisdictions in California, Colorado and Maryland endanger the public by restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Coleman said Dalilah suffered a fractured skull, a broken femur and a traumatic brain injury after an 18-wheel tractor-trailer travelling at 60mph struck the vehicle she was in; the driver, Partap Singh, an undocumented immigrant from India holding a California commercial licence, was reportedly speeding and failed to stop in a construction zone. Coleman said the ordeal forced him to quit lorry driving and left him struggling financially while raising nine children. A second witness, Patricia Fox, described how her adult daughter Carissa Aspnes was left permanently disabled after a March 2025 hit-and-run in Colorado allegedly involving an undocumented driver from Venezuela, saying she now provides round-the-clock care including tube feeding and lifting equipment.