WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer for a commercial truck driver charged in the death of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was killed on the job during a July 1 crash in Schuylkill County, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
According to DHS, citing local reporting, Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira, a nearly 20-year veteran of the department, was inspecting a commercial vehicle on July 1 when a semi-truck struck him. He later died from his injuries. The Pennsylvania State Police and Pahira’s family have publicly mourned the loss.
The driver of the truck involved in the fatal collision has been identified by DHS as Michael Bon, a Haitian national who was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter, according to the department. ICE lodged an immigration detainer for Bon the day after his arrest, DHS said. A detainer is a request that a person be transferred to federal immigration custody at the conclusion of state criminal proceedings.
Bon is charged, not convicted. In the American justice system, a criminal charge is an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
According to DHS, Bon was released into the United States during the Biden administration in July 2024. In October 2024, he filed an application for Temporary Protected Status, which was never granted, the department said. DHS said Bon held a Commercial Driver’s License issued by the state of Massachusetts.
“This Haitian illegal alien was RELEASED into our country by the Biden Administration, and the sanctuary state of Massachusetts gave him a Commercial Driver’s License,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Now, because of these reckless policies, a Pennsylvania State Trooper is dead after a crash that was 100% preventable. Illegal aliens should not be driving trucks on America’s highways. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and the Pennsylvania State Police as they mourn this loss.”
The political characterizations in the statement are those of DHS. The federal-state divide over what documentation is required for a commercial driver’s license has been the subject of extended policy debate. Under federal law, states set their own eligibility rules for CDLs within federal minimum standards. Massachusetts, along with several other states, permits residents to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of federal immigration status, a policy adopted by state legislation. Whether that policy was correctly applied in Bon’s case, and whether Massachusetts has responded to the DHS statement, was not indicated in the release.
Trooper Pahira is survived by his family. Contributions in his memory have been organized through the Pennsylvania State Police memorial fund, according to the department.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security; local reporting cited by the department
