Trump admin cracks down on illegal immigrant CDLs after fatal crash
Border czar Tom Homan has pointed to cases like Bon’s while discussing the Trump administration’s crackdown on commercial driver’s licenses held by illegal immigrants. Homan said more than 28,000 licenses would be revoked by May 1, 2026, and criticized sanctuary jurisdictions, including Massachusetts, arguing that such policies have worsened the immigration crisis.
The death of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper in a crash involving a commercial truck driver has become the latest case drawing national attention to illegal immigrant truck drivers accused in fatal wrecks. The incident has also renewed questions over how noncitizens obtain commercial driver’s licenses and fueled a broader federal crackdown on the trucking industry.
Investigators say Michael Bon, a Haitian national living in Brockton, Massachusetts, veered off Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County on July 1 and hit a marked Pennsylvania State Police vehicle during a roadside commercial vehicle inspection. The crash then struck Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr., 44.
Bon’s semi-truck and the truck that was being inspected both caught fire after the collision. Pahira was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. Bon was subsequently charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving and six other lesser offenses.
Michael Bon, who is charged in the death of Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr., is shown alongside an official portrait of the trooper, who was killed during a roadside commercial vehicle inspection in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. (WTXF ; Pennsylvania State Police)
INC News previously reported that Bon entered the United States in July 2024 through the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program. The Department of Homeland Security later terminated his parole and ordered him removed in June 2025 after rejecting his application for Temporary Protected Status, though he remained in the country.
During his time in Massachusetts, Bon obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license. That license was renewed before the Trump administration moved to stop states from issuing or renewing such licenses for drivers deemed ineligible.
The Pennsylvania crash is one of several fatal incidents reported by INC News involving illegal immigrant commercial truck drivers, a pattern that has increased pressure on state and federal officials to tighten oversight of licensing and enforcement.
The crashes have claimed the lives of a Pennsylvania state trooper, a college soccer player, a longtime high school basketball coach and his wife, members of an Amish community and other motorists while prompting calls for stricter oversight of commercial driver’s licenses issued to noncitizen truck drivers.
Clarence Nelson was one of three victims who died in a crash on Oct. 21, 2025, after an illegal immigrant from India allegedly plowed into several vehicles in Southern California. (Pomona High Red Devils)
In July 2025, investigators alleged Harjinder Singh attempted an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike, triggering a fatal crash that killed three people. Florida authorities later charged Singh with three counts of vehicular homicide, and the case became a catalyst for several Trump administration trucking policy changes.
Two of the victims were identified as Clarence Nelson, 76, an assistant basketball coach at Pomona High School, and his wife, Lisa Nelson, 69, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office later learned Singh failed the commercial driver’s license knowledge exam 10 times and the air brakes knowledge exam twice before Washington state issued him a CDL. A senior official at the attorney general’s office said the Washington trucking company that trained Singh also certified he could speak English despite his struggles communicating proficiently, and California later issued him another CDL.
Harjinder Singh, 28, was arrested after allegedly making an unauthorized U-turn in Florida that resulted in a crash that left three people dead, officials said. (St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office)
Body camera footage later showed Singh struggling to communicate with a New Mexico State Police trooper after he was pulled over for allegedly driving 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. He also failed post-crash English-language and road sign proficiency tests.
Kamalpreet Singh, an Indian illegal immigrant, is facing charges of vehicular homicide after allegedly crashing into a car in Washington. (Department of Homeland Security)
In December 2025, investigators alleged truck driver Kamalpreet Singh rear-ended a stopped vehicle in Washington, crushing it between two trucks and killing 29-year-old Robert B. Pearson.
Singh, an Indian national, crossed into the U.S. illegally in December 2023 before Border Patrol agents apprehended and released him into the country, an ICE source told INC News.
Singh was later charged with vehicular homicide and released on a $100,000 bond while awaiting trial.
A photo of Singh Sukhdeep in DHS custody on Feb. 19, 2026. (Courtesy of DHS)
In February 2026, Indiana authorities charged Singh Sukhdeep after investigators accused him of running a red light and killing 64-year-old Terry Schultz. Federal law enforcement sources told INC News at the time that Sukhdeep, an Indian national, was in the country illegally and had received an Indiana commercial driver’s license in May 2025.
Also that month, Bekzhan Beishekeev, a Kyrgyzstani national, was taken into ICE custody after investigators alleged his semi-truck crossed the center line in Jay County, Indiana, and collided head-on with a passenger van, killing four people, including members of an Amish community.
California: Licensing failures spotlighted
Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national, allegedly drove a big rig while under the influence, leading to a California crash that killed at least three people Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
California has also seen multiple high-profile cases. In May 2026, federal officials accused Manvir Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, of causing a deadly multi-vehicle hit-and-run crash near Lodi that killed two people before allegedly fleeing on foot.
The following month, INC News reported a Department of Transportation review concluded Jashanpreet Singh never should have been issued a California commercial driver’s license before a crash that killed three people because of failures in the state’s licensing system.
Ohio: College goalkeeper killed
Bekhzod Asrarov, 42, rammed the back of a vehicle on Interstate 71 in Madison County, resulting in the death of Tobias “Toby” Forsythe, 21, who played goalkeeper for the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, sources told Fox News. (Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy; UMass Lowell)
The latest fatal crash unfolded Sunday, July 5, in Ohio, where authorities arrested Bekhzod Asrarov, a 42-year-old Uzbek national, after investigators alleged his semi-truck rear-ended a vehicle in Madison County, killing 21-year-old UMass Lowell soccer player Tobias “Toby” Forsythe.
An economics major and goalkeeper at UMass Lowell, Forsythe transferred to the River Hawks after playing at Ashland University and Shawnee State.
Federal sources told INC News Asrarov entered the U.S. legally during the Biden administration on a visa and holds an Ohio CDL. The sources said Asrarov was unable to communicate with Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers in English, requiring Google Translate at the crash scene.
The sources also said Asrarov attempted to remove and conceal his truck’s dashboard camera after the crash before trying to destroy it, along with three cellphones and his electronic logging device.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER ACCUSED IN FATAL WASHINGTON CRASH RELEASED ON $100,000 BOND
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy testifies during a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on May 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Asrarov also failed an English-language proficiency test administered after the crash.
‘We’ve lowered the standards’
Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), said the recent crashes reflect broader safety issues that have been building within the trucking industry for years.
“We’ve lowered and lowered and lowered the standards in trucking over the last 40 years because of a false narrative about a driver shortage,” Pugh told INC News. “We’ve dumbed down trucking to put profits over people and profits over highway safety.”
Pugh said OOIDA has spent decades pushing for higher training standards, arguing some commercial driving schools operate like “CDL mills” that can turn out newly licensed drivers in as little as 24 hours. He said the association also supports legislation introduced by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., that would establish a federal minimum behind-the-wheel training requirement for commercial drivers.
Pugh also backs legislation that would codify the Trump administration’s restrictions on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, arguing Congress should make the changes permanent rather than relying on agency regulations that could be reversed by future administrations. He said the previous policy allowed non-English-speaking drivers to rely on translation services during roadside inspections.
Truck traffic heads south on the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) in New York toward the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and New Jersey. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“When you’re on the highway in an emergency, you don’t have time to be using a translation service,” he said. “You need to be able to tell law enforcement or first responders what’s going on.”
Federal response
The succession of crashes prompted a series of federal actions aimed at tightening commercial trucking regulations.
The Department of Transportation closed what officials described as a major loophole involving non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, restored enforcement of federal English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers and tightened eligibility rules for foreign truckers seeking commercial driving credentials.
The administration also increased roadside enforcement. According to Florida officials, inspectors have documented commercial drivers who were unable to read highway signs or communicate with troopers during inspections.
Congress has also taken up the issue. Senate Republicans introduced legislation to strengthen English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers, while Duffy said the administration’s reforms are intended to improve highway safety by ensuring truck drivers can communicate with law enforcement, emergency responders and highway officials.
Pugh said the recent cases should not overshadow the millions of professional truck drivers who safely share the road with motorists every day.
“There is no one out here on America’s highways that cares more about highway safety than the American trucker,” Pugh said. “Nobody wants to die behind the wheel or hurt anybody. We just want to deliver our freight and get back home with our families.”
