A deadly Oregon crash involving an undocumented truck driver is igniting fresh outrage over immigration policies tied to Gov. Gavin Newsom and 46th president of the United States Joe Biden after federal agents re-arrested a suspect weeks after he was released by local officials.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed it took Rajinder Kumar, 32, into custody on Wednesday, April 22.
He is now being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and is facing removal proceedings.
Kumar was arrested just days after he had been released on April 2, 2026, when Oregon politicians declined to cooperate with ICE, despite his involvement in a fatal crash months earlier.
The incident dates back to Nov. 24, 2025, when Kumar’s semi-truck jackknifed across both lanes of US Highway 20 in Deschutes County, Oregon.
A Subaru Outback crashed into the blocked roadway, killing driver William Micah Carter, 25, and passenger Jennifer Lynn Lower, 24.
The couple had been married just 16 days.
Federal officials say Kumar entered the US illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, on Nov. 28, 2022, and was released into the country under the Biden administration.
He later received work authorization and obtained a commercial driver’s license in California under Newsom’s administration.
“This illegal alien was issued a CDL by Gavin Newsom’s California. He then went on to recklessly drive a truck on America’s highways and KILL two honeymooners,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Instead of cooperating with ICE law enforcement, Oregon sanctuary politicians RELEASED him from jail back into American communities. Every time sanctuary politicians release a dangerous criminal illegal alien back into our communities, they are gambling with American lives. We are grateful to our ICE law enforcement officers who tracked this killer down to ensure he’s permanently removed from America’s highways and can never harm another American family again.”
The case is now being highlighted by DHS as an example of how federal and state-level immigration policies intersect, allowing Kumar to remain in the US and return to the streets after the fatal crash.
Authorities say victims of crimes involving undocumented immigrants can seek support through the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office at 1-855-488-6423.
