A devastating crash in Deschutes County, Oregon, has left a young newlywed couple dead after a semi-truck jack-knifed and blocked both lanes of the highway late on November 24. Authorities say the driver, 32-year-old Rajinder Kumar, an Indian national, has been arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
Investigators confirmed that the victims, 25-year-old William Micah Carter of Springfield and his 24-year-old wife, were just sixteen days into their marriage when their vehicle collided with the disabled truck. The case has drawn widespread attention as details continue to emerge about the moments leading up to the fatal crash.
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Federal officials have also confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigration detainer on Rajinder Kumar. Records show that Kumar, an Indian national, was able to secure a commercial driver’s license in California, a process that has drawn scrutiny amid broader concerns about licensing oversight for noncitizens living in the country without legal status. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote on X, “ICE lodged an immigration detainer for semi-truck driver Rajinder Kumar, an Indian national who — along with thousands of other illegal aliens — obtained a CDL in California.”
The bigger question now is: who exactly is Rajinder Kumar, and how did he make his way into the United States in the first place?
Court records reported by Oregon outlet KTVZ show that Kumar, 32, had been living in Fresno, California, but his path to the United States is now central to the investigation. The Department of Homeland Security says he is an Indian citizen who crossed into the country illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, on November 28, 2022. The department had also claimed that “the illegal alien was issued a commercial driver’s license from Gavin Newsom’s California and given a work authorization in 2023 by the Biden administration”.
With that work authorization in hand, Kumar was able to secure a California commercial driver’s license, a credential that typically requires federal confirmation of a person’s immigration status.
Soon after the crash, ICE issued an immigration detainer for Kumar, asking to take him into federal custody if the county releases him. Oregon’s sanctuary state laws could complicate that process. Although he posted bail, Kumar remained in jail because he could not provide a passport to surrender, a requirement for his release according to police records reported by Oregon outlet KTVZ.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin did not hold back in her assessment of the case, describing Kumar as a “criminal illegal from India” and warning about the risks posed by undocumented drivers behind the wheel of heavy commercial vehicles. “How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?” she said, underscoring growing political tension around the issue.
McLaughlin also pointed a finger at California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden, arguing that their policies opened the door for Kumar to work and legally operate a commercial truck in the first place.
California’s AB 60 law lets undocumented immigrants apply for standard driver’s licenses as long as they can show proof of identity and residency. Commercial licenses are a different category and are meant to include federal checks on a person’s immigration status, which has raised new questions in light of this case.
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Kumar’s case is the fourth incident this year involving an Indian truck driver linked to a deadly crash. In August, ICE filed a detainer for Harjinder Singh after he was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in Florida. That same month, Partap Singh was taken into custody in California after a multi-vehicle crash that left a five-year-old girl in critical condition. In October, ICE placed a detainer on Jashanpreet Singh, who is accused of killing three people in California while driving under the influence.