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Illegal Indian truck driver Rajinder Kumar arrested in US after Oregon crash kills newlywed couple
Rajinder Kumar jackknifed his semi-truck and collided with a vehicle in Bend on November 24, killing William Carter and his wife, Jennifer Lower.
An Indian national, who, according to US federal records, entered the United States illegally in 2022, has been arrested and charged after a devastating crash in Oregon killed a newlywed couple.
According to federal records, 32-year-old Rajinder Kumar jackknifed his semi-truck and collided with a vehicle in Bend on November 24, killing William Carter and his wife, Jennifer Lower, who had been married only recently. Kumar has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, the New York Post reported. He is currently lodged at the Deschutes County jail.
In a statement, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified Kumar as an Indian citizen who “entered the United States illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, on November 28, 2022.” The department further claimed that “the illegal alien was issued a commercial driver’s license from Gavin Newsom’s California and given a work authorisation in 2023 by the Biden administration”.
Following the fatal crash, ICE placed an immigration detainer on Kumar, seeking to take him into federal custody if he is released by the county. However, officials noted that Oregon’s sanctuary state laws could complicate that process. Despite securing bail, Kumar reportedly remained in jail because he did not have a passport to surrender, one of the conditions required for his release, according to local reports cited by KTVZ.
Reacting sharply to the incident, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “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. 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 added that DHS and ICE would continue efforts to keep “illegal alien truck drivers off America’s highways”, while offering condolences to the victims’ families.
(Also Read: 'Hard to make dollars': Friend of illegal Indian trucker who killed 3 in fiery California crash)
Past cases of crashes involving Indian Truck drivers
Notably, Kumar’s arrest marks the fourth such case in 2025 involving an Indian truck driver linked to a fatal crash. In August, ICE lodged a detainer for Harjinder Singh after he was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in Florida. That same month, Partap Singh was arrested in California following a multi-vehicle pileup that left a five-year-old girl critically injured. In October, Jashanpreet Singh was detained after being accused of killing three people in California while allegedly driving under the influence.
