Crash Involving Undocumented Driver Results in Four Deaths
On Thursday, federal immigration authorities detained an undocumented truck driver in Indiana linked to a highway crash that claimed the lives of four Amish individuals.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 30-year-old Bekzan Bayshekeyev, a commercial truck driver, as confirmed by sources. Bayshekeyev is accused of veering off course on an Indiana highway and colliding head-on with another vehicle, leading to the fatalities.
Indiana State Police reported that Bayshekeyev was driving a 2022 Freightliner eastbound on Route 67 when an accompanying semi-truck slowed down for traffic. Allegedly, he failed to reduce speed and drifted into the westbound lane, crashing into a van carrying multiple passengers.
The impact resulted in the deaths of Henry Eicher, 50, Menno Eicher, 25, Paul Eicher, 19, and Simon Girod, 23, all residents of Bryant, Indiana, as identified by the Jay County Coroner’s Office. The Indiana State Police Major Incident Recovery Team is collaborating with the Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Coroner’s Office to investigate further.
The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed Bayshekeyev’s status as an illegal immigrant from Kyrgyzstan, having entered the U.S. through the CBP One app during the Biden administration. He was subsequently granted a commercial driver’s license in Pennsylvania.
Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, stated, “Mr. Bayshekeyev was allowed into our country and given a commercial driver’s license. These choices led to tragic outcomes, resulting in four innocent lives lost.” She expressed concern over the risks posed by undocumented drivers lacking familiarity with traffic laws or English proficiency and called for a halt on issuing commercial licenses to illegal immigrants to prevent further tragedies.
This accident adds to a string of deadly crashes attributed to undocumented immigrant drivers holding commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). Since August 2025, there has been a concerning rise in fatal incidents involving such drivers, especially in states known for lax immigration enforcement, like California. In the wake of these incidents, the Department of Transportation has implemented urgent rules to limit foreign nationals from obtaining these licenses.
Unlike California, Indiana, under Republican Governor Mike Brown, has mostly cooperated with federal immigration efforts and encouraged collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE.
