Illegal immigrant trucker charged with killing newlyweds in Oregon crash was licensed by Newsom’s California: DHS

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that ICE has lodged an arrest detainer against Rajinder Kumar, who faces charges of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment after a catastrophic November 24, 2025, crash in Deschutes County.

According to the Oregon State Police, Kumar jackknifed his semi-truck and trailer on US Highway 20, blocking both lanes of traffic. A Subaru Outback collided with the disabled big rig, killing both occupants, 47-year-old William Micah Carter and 46-year-old Jennifer Lynn Lower, at the scene. The couple had just recently been married.

Kumar had entered the United States illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, in November 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration. In 2023, he obtained a commercial driver’s license from the State of California under Gov. Gavin Newsom and separately received federal work authorization, allowing him to drive a semi-truck despite lacking lawful immigration status.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin condemned the circumstances that made the deadly crash possible. “Rajinder Kumar, a criminal illegal alien from India, was released into our country under the Biden administration and issued a commercial driver’s license by Gavin Newsom’s Department of Motor Vehicles,” McLaughlin said. “How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?”

Kumar is currently detained in the Deschutes County Jail pending charges, and because Oregon is a sanctuary state, ICE says it will “make all necessary efforts” to take custody of him should local authorities release him.

The Oregon crash is only the latest in a widening list of tragedies involving illegal immigrants who obtained CDLs and later caused catastrophic or deadly accidents.

Earlier this year, ICE lodged a detainer against Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant who crossed the border in 2018, obtained a California CDL despite failing English and road-sign tests, and was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after a horrific crash in Fort Pierce, Florida.

In another case, ICE arrested Partap Singh in California after he caused a multi-car pileup while driving an 18-wheeler, a collision that left a five-year-old girl, Dalilah Coleman, with life-altering injuries.

In October, ICE issued a detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant who had been released under the Biden administration’s “alternatives to detention” program and later killed three people in San Bernardino County when he plowed his semi-truck into stopped traffic while intoxicated.

These cases highlight a pattern that has drawn growing national scrutiny: illegal immigrants released into the country are then able to obtain commercial licenses and go on to operate heavy commercial vehicles without meeting federal English-language, identity-verification, or legal-status requirements. California’s licensing system has already faced federal penalties, including a $40 million freeze in highway safety funds, for its failure to enforce federal CDL standards. Federal immigration officials say the Biden administration’s expansive work-permit programs have magnified the problem by allowing recently arrived migrants to enter high-risk transportation jobs without sufficient vetting.

DHS officials say they are working to prevent additional tragedies. “DHS law enforcement is protecting American communities every day from another senseless tragedy like this taking place in another town, to another family,” the department said. But with states like California continuing to license illegal immigrants to operate commercial trucks and with sanctuary policies limiting cooperation with federal authorities, DHS officials warn that fatal incidents like the Oregon crash may continue unless meaningful reforms are enacted.