More Deaths on American Highways at Hands of Noncitizen Truck Drivers
The Trump administration, led by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is ridding America's roadways of noncitizen truck drivers. But the death toll continues to rise amid legal and blue state pushback
Flags are flying at half staff in the state of Pennsylvania in honor of Michael Pahira Jr., a state trooper killed after a tractor-trailer struck him on the morning of July 1. Pahira, a 20-year veteran of the force, was conducting a safety check of another commercial truck on the shoulder of 1-80 when Michael Bon, an illegal immigrant from Haiti, crashed into Pahira’s vehicle then hit the truck he was inspecting at the time. Both trucks burst into flames; Pahira suffered fatal injuries at the scene and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Bon entered the U.S. during the Biden Administration in 2024 as a parolee. His parole ended in June 2025 but Bon remained in the country; that same month, Bon received a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) by the state of Massachusetts in June 2025. “This tragedy NEVER should have happened. Our prayers are with Trooper Pahira’s family, friends, and loved ones during this time,” DHS’s social media account posted on July 6.
Video of grunting Bon being hauled into a police vehicle went viral:
The president of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, Stephen Polishan, issued a statement following Bon’s arrest. “This is not about politics. This is about right versus wrong. Trooper Pahira was a hero, and his family, fellow troopers and the public deserve answers. They need to know why the person accused of this senseless killing, who was in the United States illegally, had been granted a commercial driver’s license in Massachusetts. This individual should never have been driving such a dangerous vehicle on our highways. But he was, and now a good man is dead. Trooper Pahira should be alive today.”
Polishan’s sentiments echo across the country as the death toll of American citizens killed by illegal immigrants driving 80,000-pound death machines continues to rise. The Trump administration, led by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is rolling back lax federal and state laws that allow noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, to obtain non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learning permits. Last year, Duffy issued a number of reforms aimed at improving truck safety including the announcement of an emergency rule to drastically limit the categories of non-citizens eligible for such licenses. (My backgrounder on this issue is here.) But two Democratic appellate judges in D.C. put a hold on Duffy’s rule in November 2025; as I noted on X, Pahira might be alive today had the judges not intervened in the matter. (Bon’s CDL was renewed in February.)
More Young Men Dead as Blue State Authorities Turn a Blind Eye
Sadly, Pahira’s death is one in another recent spate of tragedies caused by noncitizen truck drivers. A truck driver from Uzbekistan rammed into a vehicle driven by Toby Forsythe, a 21-year-old college soccer star, in Ohio on Sunday, killing him instantly. The driver, Bekhzod Asrarov, failed an English proficiency field test; he also ripped out his dash cam and smashed three cell phones in an attempt to conceal the evidence. Asarov arrived in the U.S. under Joe Biden’s “Diversity Visa Lottery” and obtained a CDL in Ohio. He currently faced one charge of destroying evidence as the investigation continues.
Cook County (IL) sheriff’s police arrested an Indian national on June 29 for killing 23-year-old Sebastian Stone on an Illinois highway as Stone attempted to change his tire. According to news reports, Kuljeet Kang was driving recklessly before he crashed into Stone, “weaving between the second and third lane of travel” then driving on the shoulder of the busy highway where Stone was “struck by the suspect’s front passenger wheel, and dragged under the semi, before being run over by the rear trailer wheels.” Kang fled the scene, increasing his speed as he left Stone to die on the Illinois interstate. (Shocking no one, Chicago area media describes Kang as a “Palatine man.”)
Federal sources told Libs of Tik Tok that Kang’s Illinois CDL had been renewed two months ago. An audit performed by the Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration concluded earlier this year that one-in-five non-domiciled CDLs issued by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office were done so illegally. (Some reports indicate Kang held a green card, which means he likely obtained a standard rather than a non-domiciled CDL.) However, Kang’s social media posts suggest he may not speak or understand English:
The good news, according to Border Czar Tom Homan, thousands of CDLs across the country have been revoked over the past few months:
The bad news is that hundreds of thousands of noncitizen drivers remain on America’s roads as the administration faces pushback from blue states, unions, and other pro-immigrant interests. In fact, the D.C. appellate court will hold oral arguments in September on a lawsuit seeking to overturn Duffy’s rule; given the Democratic composition and open hostility to the Trump administration on the D.C. appellate court, this fight to remove noncitizens and illegal immigrants truck drivers is not over yet.
More information here from Shannon Everett:
This is what open-borders negligence looks like after impact. A family loses a trooper. A college athlete dies. A young man changing a tire is allegedly dragged under a semi. Then the same people who created the chaos retreat into process words: parole, non-domiciled CDL, work authorization, equity, labor shortage, litigation, appellate stay. Spare us. If a driver cannot lawfully remain here, cannot meet safety standards, cannot communicate in English, or obtained a license through a broken state system, he should not be hauling freight across American highways. Period. Sean Duffy is right to rip up the racket. Blue states turned CDLs into another sanctuary benefit and called it compassion. But compassion without competence becomes a body count. The road belongs to citizens, families, troopers, and lawful drivers — not immigration experiments strapped to diesel engines.
This should never happen, obtaining a CDL and not able to talk and read English. To pass a CDL requires a walk around inspection naming all the different parts of the truck and trailer. If they fail to speak English they FAIL. Also the trooper giving the test should check their background to see if they are a legal citizen. I think it would be a great idea to have a trooper and a ICE Agent at every truck stop in America , this would serve two purposes, catching illegals and making our roads safer!!