Illegal immigrant truck driver charged in deadly California crash
Claudia Cowan reports on a tragic collision in Lodi, California, involving a semi-truck. Manveer Singh, an undocumented immigrant, faces vehicular manslaughter charges following the incident. Records from the Department of Homeland Security indicate Singh was apprehended and subsequently released near the Arizona border in 2023. In light of this, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, alongside other federal officials, is advocating for ‘Delilah’s Law,’ a proposed measure intending to bar illegal immigrants from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.
An undocumented truck driver, who authorities stated defied orders to exit the United States, stands accused in the fatality of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper. The officer had recently returned to the area to assist his ailing mother during her cancer battle.
This tragic accident adds to a growing list of fatal truck-related incidents where noncitizen commercial drivers are involved, prompting the Trump administration to reconsider rules pertaining to commercial driver’s licenses.
The tragic sequence unfolded as 44-year-old Michael E. Pahira Jr. was performing a routine commercial vehicle check on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County. Without warning, another semi-truck veered off the road, colliding with Pahira’s official vehicle and the truck under inspection before striking the trooper, as reported by the Pennsylvania State Police. Both trucks erupted into flames following the collision, and tragically, Pahira succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital.
The driver, Michael Bon, a 33-year-old Haitian immigrant residing in Brockton, Massachusetts, is charged with vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless driving, among other charges. He is currently held at Schuylkill County Prison with bail set at $700,000, and his next court appearance is slated for July 15.
The Department of Homeland Security has lodged an immigration detainer against him.
Michael Pahira joined the Pennsylvania State Police in 2007 and most recently served as a Motor Carrier Enforcement Inspector, conducting commercial vehicle inspections to help keep the state’s highways safe. (Pennsylvania State Police)
Bon entered the United States through Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July 2024 under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program. He later applied for Temporary Protected Status, but the application was denied. DHS terminated his parole in June 2025 and ordered him to leave the country, but he remained in the United States.
While living in Massachusetts, Bon obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license in March 2025. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles said he first qualified for the license in 2025 while he was authorized to work under federal law. It was renewed in February 2026 before the Trump administration directed states to stop issuing or renewing non-domiciled CDLs for drivers who no longer met federal eligibility requirements.
Pahira’s death comes as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has made tightening commercial driver licensing rules a top priority following multiple fatal crashes involving non-domiciled CDL holders over the past two years.
Bon entered the U.S. through the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in 2024. (WFMZ/WTXF)
Last year, Duffy launched a nationwide audit of states issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses after a series of deadly crashes, including crashes in Wyoming, Florida and California. During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said at least 17 fatal crashes in 2025 that killed 30 people involved immigrants living in the country illegally driving commercial vehicles with CDLs.
The Department of Transportation has also threatened to withhold federal funding from states found to be issuing licenses to drivers who are ineligible under federal law. In April, the Transportation Department withheld more than $73 million in federal funding from New York, saying the state failed to revoke commercial driver’s licenses issued to drivers who were no longer eligible. Duffy said the move was intended to hold states accountable for ensuring only qualified and properly vetted drivers were allowed behind the wheel of commercial trucks.
“Secretary Duffy is laser-focused on restoring integrity to America’s trucking industry by ensuring truck drivers on our roadways are qualified and vetted,” a spokesperson for the Transportation Department previously told News Media. “The Department is going after every link in the chain to root out bad actors, fraudsters and chameleon carriers who put American families at risk.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that widespread fraud is allowing illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses, which he said poses safety risks. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pahira became a trooper for the Pennsylvania State Police in 2007.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro remembered Pahira as “the very best of us,” saying the veteran trooper had recently moved back home to help care for his mother as she underwent cancer treatments.
“I spent time with Mike’s parents, Patti and Mike, his sister, Jen, and some of his friends and fellow troopers,” Shapiro said during a press conference. “They told me about Mike — about how great a man he was, about his high school wrestling record, his love of cooking, and his commitment to caring for his mother as she battles cancer. Just in the last few days, he helped her shave her head as she is going through her treatments.”