Supplied photos show two accidents that resulted in state charges against undocumented immigrant truck drivers in California, left, and in Florida. In November 2025, a commercial truck driver who federal authorities say entered the U.S. illegally was charged in a crash in Oregon that killed two people. Source images: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, left, and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office
Provided photos
A commercial truck driver who federal authorities say entered the U.S. illegally three years ago is expected to enter a plea Tuesday in Bend on charges of manslaughter after an accident late last year that killed a newlywed couple returning from their honeymoon.
Rajinder Kumar, an Indian national, was also charged with reckless endangerment when he was booked into Deschutes County Jail the day after the Nov. 24 crash. William Carter and Jennifer Lower died instantly when their Subaru crashed into a big rig that was jackknifed on U.S. Highway 20 and blocking traffic.
Dark conditions and a lack of emergency warning equipment around the truck were the primary causes of the crash, the Oregon State Police said at the time. Authorities have not said what caused the truck to jackknife.
Kumar’s attorney, Andrew Ince, did not respond to OPB’s request for comment.
The crash in a rural part of Central Oregon drew attention from President Donald Trump’s administration, which had already been cracking down on immigrant truck drivers after deadly crashes in Florida and California that involved truck drivers from India.
FILE - Harjinder Singh is escorted onto an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Stockton, Calif.
Benjamin Fanjoy / AP
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to OPB’s request for comment.
The Trump administration has recently threatened to hold back funds from California and Washington after those crashes, which led to federal scrutiny of their commercial truck driver licensing programs.
Last August, a truck driver made an illegal turn on Florida’s Turnpike north of West Palm Beach and was struck by a minivan, killing three people, according to AP. Homeland Security has said that truck driver, Harjinder Singh, was in the United States illegally. Florida authorities said he entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018.
Homeland Security said Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, which is one of 19 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center.
In October, another semitruck driver, also from India, was charged with vehicular manslaughter after a fiery, chain-reaction crash in California that killed three people, the AP reported. The driver, Jashanpreet Singh, held commercial driver’s licenses from both California and Washington state.
California tightened its rules in September for issuing commercial driver’s licenses to permanent residents and non-citizens of the United States.
In the Oregon case late last year, DHS said Kumar had entered the country illegally from Mexico near Lukeville, Arizona, in 2022. They placed an immigration detainer on him, preventing his release from the Deschutes County Jail.
Kumar was issued a commercial driver’s license by California and received work authorization the following year, DHS said.
Becky Lower, Jennifer’s mother, said she was frustrated by what she called the “political rhetoric” that has followed since the death of her daughter and son-in-law.
“Jenny and Billy were such kind and loving people. They would have been broken hearted by the way people have responded to their deaths,” said Lower. “Our personal opinion is that the driver’s immigration status had nothing to do with the accident —it was the decisions he made that night.”
Jenny Lower Carter and her new husband William “Billy” Carter on their wedding day, Nov. 8, 2025. The couple were killed when their car hit a jackknifed semi on U.S. Hwy 20, Nov. 24, 2025, east of Bend, Ore. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the truck driver, Rajinder Kumar, entered the country illegally from Mexico in 2022.
Courtesy of Lower family
At a court hearing last month, Deschutes County Judge Walter Miller ordered Kumar’s bail increased from $100,000 to $250,000. It was later increased to $500,000, court records show. Kumar appeared by closed circuit camera and was assisted by a Hindi interpreter.
Raman Dhillon, CEO of North American Punjabi Trucking Association, an advocacy organization serving Indian truck drivers, told OPB driving large commercial trucks requires significant skill. Even after a person gets their commercial license, they might not be ready to operate as a solo driver right away, he said.
Dhillon also said that drivers should be able to speak English, but said that Punjabis have become a “scapegoat” in the current political climate.
Kumar waived his right to a speedy trial, court records show, and a trial date has not been set.
This story will be updated.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff contributed reporting to this story.
