BREAKING: Washington state refuses ICE detainer for criminal illegal alien trucker charged in school bus pileup

The US Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE filed an immigration detainer for Juan Hernandez-Santos, a Mexican national accused of causing the December 4 wreck in Lacey, Washington, when the 18-wheeler he was driving slammed into another vehicle, triggering a multi-car chain reaction that included a school bus on I-5 near Martin Road. Because of Washington’s sanctuary policies, local authorities refused to honor the ICE detainer and released him instead of transferring him to federal custody.

The crash caused a six-vehicle pileup. Three people were hospitalized, and Washington State Patrol said Hernandez-Santos did not have a commercial driver’s license, yet was operating a fully loaded semi. Earlier reporting also revealed he did not have insurance or a valid medical card, basic documents required to legally operate a commercial rig.

“This dangerous illegal alien has a criminal history including multiple DUIs, possessing a controlled substance, and two prior removals from the U.S. He was a walking public safety threat and illegally was driving a massive 18-wheeler when he caused a six-car pile-up involving a school bus on the highway in Washington,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Thankfully, no children were in the bus. This story could have had a very different tragic ending. The sanctuary politicians in Washington failed once again to protect American citizens by refusing to honor our ICE arrest detainer.”

DHS detailed a long history of immigration violations and criminal conduct. In 2005, US Border Patrol removed Hernandez-Santos to Mexico. He illegally re-entered the country, a felonious crime, and was removed again in 2006. At an unknown date and place, he re-entered the US for a third time. Once back in the US, his criminal record continued to grow. On May 24, 2008, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office arrested Hernandez-Santos for driving without a license. Just weeks later, on June 7, 2008, he was arrested again in California for driving under the influence and hit-and-run with property damage. On November 2, 2018, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance. On February 24, 2020, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested him again for driving under the influence.

Despite this record, Washington’s sanctuary framework meant that when he allegedly caused a six-car wreck involving a school bus while driving a semi-truck without a CDL, local authorities still declined to turn him over to ICE. Hernandez-Santos is the latest in a series of illegal immigrants behind the wheel of commercial vehicles at the center of catastrophic crashes.

Earlier this year, Harjinder Singh, who crossed the border illegally in 2018 and obtained Washington and California CDLs despite failing required tests and allegedly not speaking English, was accused of causing a crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that killed three people. That case prompted Florida’s attorney general to sue Washington and California at the US Supreme Court, seeking to bar both states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.

Other recent cases include the San Bernardino County crash involving Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal immigrant released after crossing the southern border in 2022, who authorities say killed three people in a fiery I-10 collision while intoxicated. In Oregon, DHS said Rajinder Kumar, an illegal immigrant from India who entered unlawfully in 2022, was charged after a jackknifed semi blocked Highway 20, leading to a collision that killed William Micah Carter and Jennifer Lynn Lower. DHS said he held a California CDL and received Biden-era work authorization.

These cases have unfolded against the backdrop of the Skyline CDL scandal, in which a CDL school and an associated testing pipeline allegedly used bribery and improper practices to push unqualified applicants into commercial licenses. In response to what officials describe as an “illegal trucking chain,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has launched a broad crackdown on training providers and states that improperly issue CDLs. Nearly 3,000 CDL training providers have been removed from FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry for alleged noncompliance, with thousands more placed on notice in a push to root out “CDL mills” and falsified training records.

Last week, Washington admitted it accidentally issued 685 CDLs over seven years to noncitizens who did not qualify, prompting the US Department of Transportation to call it a “blatant breakdown” in the state’s responsibility to protect the public. Duffy has also threatened to withhold more than $30 million in federal highway funding from Minnesota after auditors found roughly one-third of its non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally, and he has targeted Pennsylvania with similar warnings. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott announced a one-day operation on I-40 where DPS and federal partners said they caught 31 illegal immigrant truck drivers, most holding CDLs issued out of California.

DHS says its law enforcement components have arrested hundreds of illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles despite having no legal status in the US, including 146 illegal alien truck drivers and 91 illegal aliens driving 18-wheelers in Indiana. In November, ICE arrested Akhror Bozorov, a criminal illegal alien from Uzbekistan wanted in his home country for belonging to a terrorist organization, who was working as a commercial truck driver in Kansas despite having no legal status.