BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Seven-year-old Dahlila Coleman of Bakersfield was severely injured when a big rig slammed into the car she was riding in back in 2024.

“Prior to her accident, she was just a normal kid, You know, she walked, she talked. She had all her milestones,” said Dalilah’s father, Marcus Coleman.

Coleman and his family of 8 had their lives changed in June 2024 when a commercial semi-truck slammed into a car carrying then 5-year-old Dahlila. The young girl received severe head trauma and was in a coma for three months.

Today, the accident has left Dahlila mentally handicapped.

“I won’t say four different times that they told her she wasn’t going to make it. So we were, we were living on the verge of losing her…we’re just taking a day at a time. Every day is something new that comes up that we’re having to deal with,” Coleman says.

Months after the crash, ICE and Homeland Security reached out to the family wanting to apprehend the driver of the semi-truck. The driver, 20-year-old Partap Singh, was deported to India in September 2025.

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Dalilah’s story was spotlighted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X. The secretary even visited the Colemans at their southwest Bakersfield home last week.

“We actually had a fruitful conversation. It was a meaningful conversation. It wasn’t anything that was scripted,” said Coleman. “She’s going to put us in contact with some people there in D.C. We’re going back this upcoming week.”

The family is set to meet a number of senators, congressmen and secretaries on next week’s visit. The even got an official invitation to meet President Trump at the White House. The family has taken several trips to the nation’s capital, but Marcus says he’s advocating for a number of legislative measures.

Mainly, an updated commercial driver license process.

“What that will do is the only way you can get that is one becoming being a legal citizen. That’s the only way you can get that. You would have to undergo a background check,” said Coleman.

Marcus hopes that people can look past the partisan nature of immigration and come to a consensus to help families like his.

“When a vehicle accident happens, the truck doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or you’re a Democra, or you’re 18-years-old or you’re nine-years-old…it doesn’t matter what side of the field you’re playing on,” said Marcus. “It’s going to happen, has happened and is continuing to happen.”

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