A Washington highway death now exposes how Biden’s border “catch and release” policies allegedly put an illegal trucker behind the wheel of a massive rig, with deadly consequences for an innocent American driver.
Story Snapshot
- An illegal immigrant trucker released under Biden-era border policies is now charged in a fatal Washington crash.
- The victim, 29-year-old American citizen Robert Pearson, was killed when his car was crushed between two semi-trucks.
- Conservatives argue Biden’s mass releases and lax CDL rules opened the door for unqualified illegal truckers nationwide.
- The Trump administration is now cracking down on illegal commercial drivers and penalizing states that ignored federal safety rules.
Fatal Washington Crash Tied to Biden-Era Border Release
On a busy stretch of State Route 167 in Washington, authorities say a Freightliner semi-truck driven by 27-year-old Kamalpreet Singh slammed into a stopped Mazda sedan, driven by 29-year-old Robert B. Pearson, crushing it beneath another semi and killing Pearson at the scene. Singh is an Indian national who illegally crossed the southern border near Lukeville, Arizona, on December 23, 2023, and was released into the country under Biden-era “catch and release” protocols rather than being detained or removed.
Investigators say there were no signs of drugs or alcohol in Singh’s system, and the exact cause of the crash remains under review by the Washington State Patrol. Yet Pearson’s small Mazda never had a chance once wedged between two fully loaded big rigs. Local prosecutors quickly charged Singh with vehicular homicide, while federal immigration authorities lodged a detainer to ensure he remains in custody and does not disappear back into the shadows of the overburdened immigration system.
How Biden Policies Opened the Door for Illegal Truckers
According to federal immigration sources and transportation officials, Singh’s presence behind the wheel of a commercial truck traces directly back to Biden administration policies that normalized mass releases of illegal border crossers pending distant court hearings. Those releases, coupled with state-level loopholes, allowed some illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in states such as California and Minnesota despite lacking lawful status or the English proficiency and safety background Americans expect from professional truck drivers.
The Washington case is not an isolated tragedy but part of a disturbing national pattern documented by federal agencies and conservative watchdog outlets. In Florida, an illegal immigrant trucker from India with a California-issued commercial license allegedly made an illegal U-turn on the Turnpike in 2024, killing three people. In California, another illegal Indian national, who entered in 2022 and was released under Biden policies, was later accused of a drunk-driving semi-truck crash that caused an eight-car pileup and left four people dead on I-10, reinforcing fears that America’s highways are being turned into testing grounds for unvetted drivers.
Other Deadly Crashes Linked to Illegal Immigrant Drivers
Reports from law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement show similar stories unfolding in multiple states. In Indiana, an illegal immigrant from Serbia driving a semi-truck allegedly caused a crash that killed Jeffrey Eberly. In Maryland, Honduran national Kevin Alexis Mendez-Ortiz, who entered the United States illegally in 2022, is accused of crossing the center line and slamming head-on into another vehicle, leaving a woman with a broken back, fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung before ICE agents finally arrested him weeks later on immigration violations.
Washington state itself has seen more than one incident involving illegal truckers. In early December 2025, an unlicensed truck driver described by the Department of Homeland Security as an illegal immigrant crashed into a school bus, sending three people to the hospital and shaking parents who assumed school routes were safe. For many families watching these cases stack up, the pattern is stark: illegal immigrants who never had a right to be here in the first place are being entrusted with 40-ton vehicles, and American citizens are paying the ultimate price.
State Licensing Failures and Minnesota’s Massive Penalty
Beyond the border, federal transportation officials now point to state-level licensing failures that compounded the danger. Minnesota faces a multimillion-dollar penalty after an audit found that state authorities had issued commercial driver’s licenses to non-citizens who did not meet federal standards. The U.S. Department of Transportation has blasted these “state-sponsored” illegal CDLs as a direct threat to highway safety, arguing that they placed workforce demands and political priorities ahead of the lives of American motorists and their families.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration leaders have warned states that compliance with federal eligibility and English proficiency rules for commercial licenses is not optional. Under Trump’s renewed leadership in Washington, the administration has started freezing or clawing back transportation funding from states that defy federal safety requirements. Minnesota’s case is being held up as a clear example: ignore federal law, hand out CDLs to those here illegally, and Washington will hit back in the only language some state leaders seem to understand—money.
Trump’s Crackdown: Putting Citizens’ Safety First
Since returning to the White House, President Trump and his new Department of Homeland Security team have launched aggressive operations to clean up the mess left behind by years of lax enforcement. A recent nationwide initiative, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, resulted in the arrests of more than two hundred illegal immigrants, including nearly one hundred fifty individuals driving commercial trucks. Federal officials say these arrests, alongside fresh ICE detainers in high-profile crash cases, are designed to get dangerous drivers off the road before more American families bury loved ones.
Illegal Trucker's Deadly Crash: Biden Release Blamed for Fatality https://t.co/DkZAZ8d9D1
— Fearless45 (@Fearless45Trump) December 13, 2025
Transportation leaders in the Trump administration are also moving to revoke illegally obtained commercial licenses and tighten background checks. They argue that when states hand CDL privileges to illegal immigrants, they not only reward lawbreaking but also undermine the professional standards that responsible American truckers work hard to meet. For conservative Americans who value the rule of law and safe roads, the Washington crash that killed Robert Pearson has become a tragic, human reminder of what happens when ideology and open-borders politics override basic common sense.
Sources:
ICE arrests illegal immigrant in Maryland crash that severely injured woman
Minnesota faces massive penalty for illegal CDLs as deadly crashes expose state failures
ICE arrest of illegal immigrant in Maryland crash case
Four dead in nine days as illegal immigrant drivers wreak havoc on US highways
Hyde-Smith Senate floor speech on highway safety and CDL reforms
DHS: Unlicensed trucker behind school bus crash in Washington
