Exclusive | Tour bus driver charged in fatal wreck entered US illegally — and was still issued NYS license: feds
The Chinese national charged in a deadly tour bus wreck on a Tennessee highway had entered the US illegally — but was still issued a driver’s license by New York state, The Post has learned.
Huang Yisong, 54, crossed the US-Mexico border in 2023 and was released under Biden administration policies, eventually ending up in Brooklyn and snagging a commercial driver’s license from the state, federal homeland security and transportation officials said.
“Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semi-trucks and big
rigs,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem said in a statement to The Post.
Huang Yisong, 54, of Brooklyn, was behind the wheel of a tour bus in Tennessee when he caused a crash, cops said. Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement
The Dec. 9 crash on I-40 in Tennessee left one man dead and more than a dozen people injured, police said. WKRN
“And yet, sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses.”
Yisong was taken into custody on vehicular homicide charges following last week’s crash on Interstate 40 West that killed a 31-year-old truck driver and injured several others, officials said.
The feds said Yisong admitted to US Border Patrol agents that he had entered the States illegally, but was released with work papers and a Social Security card — which allowed him to get a NYS commercial driver’s license earlier this year.
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which has denied that the agency wrongfully approved Yisong for the license, said Wednesday that it was issued to him on April 11, 2025, after he presented legit federal documents.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem said the fatal Tennessee crash is another example of failed Biden policies. AP
The issuing of commercial licenses to migrants in sanctuary states like New York has been an issue pushed to the forefront by the Trump White House, part of the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“The Trump Administration is ending the chaos,” Noem said. “The brave men and women of ICE are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads.”
Last week, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull $73 million in federal highway funding from the Empire State after an audit claimed that foreign-born drivers were routinely issued licenses.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Huang Yisong was distracted by a video on his phone before the fatal crash. FOX17
“It’s not just that Joe Biden let millions of migrants flood into our country illegally,” Duffy said in a statement, “his administration doled out the documentation these unqualified foreign drivers needed to obtain trucking licenses and operate 40-ton missiles on the highway.”
Yisong was allegedly driving a tour bus along I-40 in Tennessee on Dec. 9 when authorities said he became distracted while watching a video on his phone and smashed into a tractor-trailer.
The collision caused a chain reaction, with the truck slamming into another 18-wheeler, which struck a passenger vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.
One of the truck drivers, a 31-year-old man, was killed in the wreck, while at least a dozen others were injured, according to police.
Cops said Yisong failed an English proficiency test at the scene of the crash.
Federal officials said Huang Yisong entered the US illegally in 2023 but was allowed to stay and get a driver’s license. Putnam County Sheriff’s Office
Yisong, who lives in Brooklyn, was being held on a $175,000 bond at the Putnam County Jail in Tennessee, online records show.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
In a statement last week, the state DMV noted that Yisong was issued the license legally after presenting valid federal work authorization and a Social Security card.
“Let’s be clear: Regulating commercial driver licenses is a federal responsibility,” the statement said. “It is the height of hypocrisy for leaders in Washington to place blame at the states for following federal rules.”
