QuickTake:

The case gained national prominence after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last December publicized the arrest of Rajinder Kumar, criticizing California for granting him a commercial driver’s license while he was in the country without authorization.

Federal immigration authorities have taken into custody a 32-year-old truck driver charged with manslaughter in the Highway 20 deaths of a Springfield couple in the Bend area.

Rajinder Kumar is being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.

The case highlights a clash between immigration authorities and the local prosecutors. 

“We would hope and intend to go forward with the criminal case,” Deschutes County District Attorney Stephen Gunnels said in an email Monday. “That said, federal actions are beyond our control, and we have no input into that process.”

Kumar has a trial date set for Jan. 19, 2027. He pleaded not guilty March 30 to the two counts of manslaughter, and not guilty to three misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person.

State Police arrested Kumar Nov. 24, 2025, after the deaths of William Micah Carter, 25, and Jennifer Lynn Lower, 24. Police said Kumar, from Fresno, California, was the driver of a jackknifed semitruck blocking lanes of traffic in Deschutes County, leading to the fatal collision.

A federal spokesperson in December highlighted Kumar’s status as an unauthorized immigrant from India in criticizing his licensure as a commercial driver by California motor vehicle authorities.

The deceased couple were traveling home after their wedding reception, The Oregonian reported in December.

Oregon’s sanctuary laws prohibit local and state police from assisting with immigration enforcement. The December statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated the agency had filed an arrest detainer for Kumar.

Such detainers, commonplace in many states, involve local jail authorities notifying ICE of a person’s release from custody. A jail detainer may also request a hold for up to 48 hours until ICE can take custody, according to ICE’s website.

Seemingly acknowledging the unlikelihood of compliance with such an arrest detainer in Oregon, ICE in December vowed to “make all necessary efforts to bring Kumar into custody should he be released from custody.”

Court records show an April 2 release order for Kumar after security had been set at $250,000. Ten percent of that amount, $25,000, was required to be posted for his release from Deschutes County Jail, and a court filing shows an April 14 “transaction date” of payment.

The release order listed an electronic monitoring requirement for Kumar, and Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Ben Becker filed a motion April 22 seeking to revoke Kumar’s release, stating that Kumar had failed to comply with electronic monitoring.

However, that same day Becker withdrew the motion. In a court filing, Becker said prosecutors have “reason to believe that the Federal law enforcement agents may have removed Defendant’s GPS bracelet.”

ICE did not respond to an email sent Monday with questions about Kumar.

In January, federal authorities said they would withhold about $158 million in funding from California after finding “substantial non-compliance” with regulations about the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses.

California officials in March announced that under pressure from the Trump administration, they would revoke the commercial driver’s licenses of drivers who “do not have citizenship or lawful permanent resident status,” including “holders of various visas, refugees, and asylees.”

That same month, Oregon officials said they had stopped issuing commercial driver’s licenses to people in the United States without permanent residency or citizenship, The Oregonian reported.