A fatal crash in Oregon has drawn ICE into the case, marking the fourth time this year the agency has slapped an arrest detainer on a truck driver – a tool rarely used in trucking enforcement.
The agency issued that fourth detainer on Dec. 1, a week after a deadly crash in Oregon. Arrest detainers are used to make sure an inmate wanted on charges in multiple jurisdictions, who is in the custody of one jurisdiction, is held long enough for additional jurisdictions to take custody of the inmate.
On Nov. 24, Kumar Rajinder jackknifed his tractor-trailer and was blocking both lanes of U.S. Highway 20 in Deschutes County, Ore., about 50 miles from Bend, Ore. A Subaru Outback collided with a tractor-trailer. Both the driver and passenger – William Cater and Jennifer Lower – died on the scene.
According to KTVZ21, Lower’s father reached out to the television station and said the pair met on a blind date in April 2024 and were married 16 days before the crash.
According to an ICE news release, Rajinder, 32, of Fresno, Calif, entered the U.S. illegally near Lukeville, Ariz., on Nov. 28, 2022, and was released into the country by the previous administration. Rajinder was issued a commercial driver’s license to work as a truck driver in California and was granted work authorization in 2023.