Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released video of Elizabeth Carter, whose son and daughter-in-law died in a crash in Oregon last November, confronting the truck driver charged in their deaths as he was transferred into state custody earlier this month.
The video, distributed by ICE’s Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement office, shows Carter addressing Rajinder Kumar directly as he was moved from federal to Oregon state custody.
“Hello, Mr. Kumar. My name is Elizabeth Carter,” she said. “I’m William Micah Carter’s mother. And I wanted you to know that I pray for you and your family. I know you didn’t get up that morning planning to kill two newlyweds. And I know your family is going through something important too.”
Kumar, an Indian national living in the country illegally, faces two counts of first-degree manslaughter and three counts of recklessly endangering another person in connection with the crash that killed William Micah Carter and his wife, who were newlyweds.
Federal authorities say Kumar was arrested after Deschutes County law enforcement did not honor an ICE detainer and released him in April. Officials say Kumar had previously been apprehended and released at the Arizona border in 2022, and later obtained a commercial driver’s license in California.
Kumar has now been transferred to Deschutes County custody to stand trial. His criminal case is scheduled for January 2027, and his immigration proceedings remain on hold until it concludes.
Former DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the case at the time of Kumar’s arrest, asking how many more such crashes would occur before “sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads.”
The circumstances of Kumar’s licensing have drawn comparisons to other cases involving commercial driver’s licenses issued to non-domiciled drivers. In December 2025, the California Department of Motor Vehicles sought to delay the revocation of roughly 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, a request that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rejected.
A separate case involving Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old Indian national who obtained commercial licenses in Washington and California despite failing his knowledge test ten times and an English proficiency assessment, has also drawn scrutiny. Singh is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and manslaughter after a fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike involving an illegal U-turn that killed three people in a minivan. That case prompted ICE to launch Operation Highway Sentinel, which resulted in the arrest of more than 100 illegal immigrant truck drivers on California highways.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login