Illegal immigrant trucker's crash exposed failures beyond the highway: Mastriano
Pennsylvania Sen. Doug Mastriano tells Fox News Digital lax immigration enforcement helped pave the way for the crash that killed a state trooper.
The crash that killed a Pennsylvania state trooper, allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant truck driver, exposed failures at the intersection of highway safety and immigration enforcement, the architect of Pennsylvania's move-over law said.
Michael Bon, a 33-year-old Haitian national who entered the U.S. under former President Joe Biden's mass parole program, according to the Department of Homeland Security, was arrested after his big rig plowed into Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. on Interstate 81.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, whose district encompasses a large swath of Interstate 81's heavily truck-trafficked corridor, said his law was meant to prevent tragedies like this, many of which have happened in or near his district.
Mastriano said Bon's immigration status made the tragedy doubly preventable.
Doug Mastriano, Republican gubernatorial candidate for Pennsylvania, center, greets attendee while arriving for a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. (Dustin Franz/Bloomberg)
Mastriano said his move-over law came about in 2019 as one of his first efforts after being elected to the legislature.
"I heard from Tom Bricker, a tow truck operator at Abe’s Towing out of Chambersburg," he said. "He told me all the close calls he's had, all the friends of his that have been killed or injured by people crashing into the tow trucks … especially on 81, since that goes through our area."
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After Bricker visited Mastriano, tow trucker Tyler Laudenslager was struck and killed on Interstate 81 west of Lebanon, prompting his move-over legislation, which Democratic then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed.
Since then, Pennsylvania motorists have been required to move over for tow trucks and other emergency vehicles or slow to a safe speed, something Bon allegedly did not do when he struck Pahira's cruiser.
"Trooper Michael should be alive today, had the federal government enforce their own laws protecting the border, making sure only people coming in legally can be on the roads," he said, noting the nexus of his law and immigration enforcement policies.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that widespread fraud is allowing illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses, which he said poses safety risks. (Department of Homeland Security)
Another Mastriano bill passed in 2022 allows tow trucks to use police-issued blue lights while stopped to get motorists to pay attention. The senator said it came about after meeting with Bricker and other tow truck drivers and learned of a pilot program of the sort in the Midwest.
Mastriano said Bon, who had been living in Brockton, Massachusetts, and was issued a CDL by the Bay State's Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), drifted out of his lane when he struck Pahira, as the trooper was conducting an unrelated commercial-vehicle inspection south of Frackville.
With Massachusetts and Pennsylvania among the states that have faced cases involving CDLs issued to immigrants in the country illegally, Mastriano said states have authority to address motor vehicle policy.
Haitian illegal immigrant Michael Bon's license is shown. (DHS)
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration previously faulted DHS, whose agency maintains the SAVE registry that identifies a noncitizen's immigration status, which PennDOT uses to determine licensure eligibility.
When asked about states like Pennsylvania faulting the federal government in part for the problem, Mastriano said the "finger-pointing" must stop.
"Josh Shapiro, please fix this, you have a lot of power here in Pennsylvania and you're the governor and so exercise that power ask your secretary of transportation to update records to make sure anyone receiving CDL licenses is somebody who's here legally and understands the language and can control a vehicle," he said.
"A lot of mistakes were done and people need to be held responsible and to just shift the blame now to the federal government for a state government problem is just wrong," he said.
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania both defended their licensing systems, telling Fox News Digital they relied on the federal SAVE database to verify Bon's eligibility.
A Federal Agent arrest a man after stopping and questioning him in the street during an Immigration Enforcement Operation in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, U.S., January 14, 2026 (Mostafa Bassim/Getty Images)
"This defendant should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," a Healey administration RMV spokesperson said, echoing the Shapiro administration's defense of the federal SAVE database and noting it is federally operated.
"Every non-U.S. citizen who applies for a commercial learner’s permit or driver’s license in Pennsylvania must provide proof of identity and ... lawful presence in the United States, which is verified with the federal SAVE database, administered by [USCIS]," Shapiro spokeswoman Rosie Lapowsky said.
Under Massachusetts’ procedure, Bon would have been rejected upon any attempted renewal for 2027, a source familiar with Beacon Hill’s policies said.
When asked, as a state lawmaker, what the federal government can do about states where these cases have become common, Mastriano said respecting federalism, the idea that states have semi-autonomy, is important but can make it "tough" to manage.
Mastriano pointed to the federal government's use of highway funding to encourage state compliance with the 55-mph speed limit during the 1970s gasoline crisis.
The same strategy could be used today, he suggested.
Referring to the Eisenhower Interstate and Defense Highways Act’s inclusion of "defense" concerns, Mastriano said resources could also be allocated by Washington to improve highways based on their linkage between military outposts.
In the case of Interstate 81, where Pahira and many others have been killed, he noted that Letterkenny Army Depot in his district, the U.S. Army War College and Tobyhanna Army Depot are located along it, which he said could spur funding for more lanes and better conditions.
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Lapowsky noted PennDOT has paused all issuances of such licenses following a Sept. 29, 2025 federal order.
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Since Bon's crash, another illegal immigrant has been arrested after authorities said he struck and killed a motorist changing a flat tire on Interstate 80 in Illinois.
