The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an arrest detainer against an illegal alien charged with killing two people while operating a semi-truck in Deschutes County, Oregon.
According to local reports, 35-year-old Rajinder Kumar, an illegal alien from India, jackknifed his semi-truck and trailer across both lanes of U.S. Highway 20 on November 24. A Subaru Outback then collided with the stalled trailer, killing driver William Micah Carter and passenger Jennifer Lynn Lower. Kumar has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangering.
Federal officials said Kumar entered the United States illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, in November 2022 and was released into the country. He later received work authorization in 2023 and obtained a commercial driver’s license from the State of California, allowing him to operate a commercial vehicle despite lacking lawful status.
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Kumar “was released into our country under the Biden administration and issued a commercial driver’s license by Gavin Newsom’s Department of Motor Vehicles,” adding that the case highlights ongoing safety concerns involving illegal aliens operating heavy commercial vehicles on U.S. roads. She extended condolences to the victims’ families and said ICE will continue efforts to remove illegal alien truck drivers from America’s highways.
Kumar remains in the Deschutes County Jail. Because Oregon is a sanctuary state and restricts cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, ICE said it will take all necessary steps to assume custody if he is released.
DHS said this crash is one of several recent incidents involving illegal aliens operating commercial trucks in sanctuary jurisdictions. In August, ICE lodged a detainer for Harjinder Singh after his arrest in Florida on three counts of vehicular homicide while driving a semi-truck. That same month, ICE arrested Partap Singh in California after a multi-vehicle crash that left a five-year-old child with critical injuries. In October, ICE filed a detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, who is accused of killing three people in California while driving an 18-wheeler under the influence.
Industry data released this year shows the United States is facing a continuing shortage of qualified commercial truck drivers, with the American Trucking Associations reporting that trucks moved over 11 billion tons of freight in 2024 and that the driver shortage now stands between 60,000 and 80,000 positions nationwide. Foreign-born truckers make up nearly one in six U.S. drivers, and ATA’s earlier long-term projections warned the country could be short almost 200,000 drivers by 2028. Federal officials say the combination of high demand for drivers, shrinking domestic recruitment, and state sanctuary policies has created circumstances where individuals without lawful immigration status are increasingly found behind the wheel of commercial trucks.
ICE officials said these cases underscore the public safety risks posed when unlawfully present individuals obtain commercial licenses and operate heavy freight vehicles on public roadways.
