Yet another fatal accident involving a resident of India who entered the U.S. illegally and was issued a commercial driver's license by the state of California occurred In Oregon recently.
A newlywed couple died in a crash with a tractor-trailer near Bend, Oregon Nov. 24.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents lodged an arrest detainer for a "illegal alien charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangering" in connection with the crash.
The DHS statement said Rajinder Kumar jackknifed the tractor-trailer he was driving blocking both lanes of U.S. Highway 20. A Subaru Outback collided with the tractor-trailer, killing both the driver, William Carter, and passenger, Jennifer Lower.
KTVZ reports Lower's father, Tom Lower, said his daughter and Carter met on a blind date last April and had married in Portland just 16 days before the crash.
DHS's statement said Kumar entered the U.S. illegally near Lukeville, Arizona on Nov. 28, 2022. He was issued a work authorization in 2023 and received a CDL from California.
"How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.”
The DHS statement said Kumar is being housed at the Deschutes County jail pending charges for criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangering. DHS said ICE will make "all necessary efforts" to take Kumar into custody should he be released.
The statement from DHS recounts several other similar accidents, including:
- In August, ICE lodged an arrest detainer for a criminal illegal alien, Harjinder Singh, following his arrest for three counts of vehicular homicide while driving a semi-truck in Florida.
- In August, ICE arrested Partap Singh, a criminal illegal alien from India, who caused a multi-car pileup while driving a commercial 18-wheeler in the sanctuary state of California. The accident left 5-year-old Dalilah Coleman with critical, life-altering injuries.
- In October, ICE lodged an arrest detainer for a criminal illegal alien, Jashanpreet Singh, following and accident that killed three people in California while driving an 18-wheeler under the influence.
The August accident that left three people dead captured numerous headlines and set off the Department of Transportation's efforts to increase enforcement of English language proficiency on the part of CDL holders. This led to ICE collaborating with law enforcement agencies in several state's to target truckers and seize a number of truckers the agency said were in the U.S. illegally.
It also triggered and audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of states' practices for issuing CDLs to non-domiciled truckers. The FMCSA also issued an emergency rule halting the issuance of most non-domiciled CVDLs. That rule has been frozen by a federal court pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
