'I hold you responsible': Emotional dad of child disabled after illegal migrant crash confronts Democrats

WASHINGTON,DC: The emotional centerpiece of a congressional hearing on sanctuary policies Tuesday, September 1 came not from a lawmaker, but from a father who said his daughter’s life was permanently changed after a truck crash involving an illegal immigrant.

Marcus Coleman arrived on Capitol Hill carrying the story of his 7-year-old daughter Dalilah and left lawmakers with a blunt accusation: sympathy, he said, was meaningless when families like his felt abandoned.

Dad blasts Dems for 'apathy'

Coleman he challenged Democrats directly as he began narrating the ordeal his family faced after the accident.

“I reject your guys’ sympathy,” Coleman told members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.

Coleman said that after his daughter was catastrophically injured, none of the lawmakers had personally reached out to his family.

“Not one of you guys have ever sat there and seen me in the hallways and said, ‘Hey, sorry about your daughter.’ You guys do it right here where you guys are grandstanding on top of your soapbox,” he said.

“This is when you guys care. Right here inside this room is the only time you guys care.”

Coleman's daughter was critically injured in Southern California in 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer crashed into the vehicle she was traveling in.

The child suffered a fractured skull, broken femur and traumatic brain injury and was left permanently disabled.

Authorities identified the truck driver as an illegal immigrant who had obtained a commercial driver's license in California.

Investigators said he was traveling at an unsafe speed and failed to stop for traffic in a construction zone. The truck was traveling at about 60 mph when the collision occurred.

Coleman told lawmakers that his daughter never chose the circumstances that changed her life. “She didn't ask for any of this,” he said.

His frustration ultimately returned to the debate surrounding sanctuary cities.

“I think that building needs to get checked for mold or something, because you guys are really out of your guys' mind thinking that sanctuary cities are the way to go,” Coleman told Democratic lawmakers.

This is the end result of Sanctuary City right here”, Coleman said pointing towards his daughter who was accompanying him during the hearing.

Coleman blames Dems for illegal migrations

Coleman bluntly held the Democrats responsible for the menace caused due to illegal immigration.

“I hold each and every one of you responsible for it, and I always will.”

He also described the financial consequences of the crash for his own household.

A truck driver before his daughter’s injuries, he said he has since stopped working in the profession and is struggling to support his nine children.

“I'm no longer truck driving. I no longer make the money that we used to make. I'm now pinching pennies,” Coleman said.

“I have nine kids, by the way, that I take care of, and I had to sit there and stretch that.”

He contrasted his family’s experience with that of his wife, whom he said immigrated legally.

“My wife, an immigrant. She did what she's supposed to do,” Coleman said. “She did exactly what she's supposed to do to get here.”

Democrats Pramila Jayapal, Jerry Nadler, Lou Correa, Deborah Ross, Jasmine Crockett and Steve Cohen were present during the hearing.

Coleman’s emotional testimony comes after Democrats repeatedly fought Trump’s immigration crackdown, opposing ICE raids, backing anti-ICE protests and challenging expanded deportation efforts.