Federal immigration authorities detained an illegal migrant truck driver Thursday over a highway accident in Indiana that left four Amish members dead.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took custody of 30-year-old Bekzhan Beishekeev, a staffer with the Jay County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Beishekeev, a commercial truck driver, allegedly swerved lanes along an Indiana highway on Tuesday and smashed head-on into another vehicle, killing four members of the Amish community.
Beishekeev was driving a 2022 Freightliner truck eastbound along State Road 67 when another semi-tractor trailer in front of him slowed down for traffic, according to Indiana State Police. Instead of slowing down himself, Beishekeev allegedly swerved onto a westbound lane and collided with a van that was carrying several passengers.
“The Jay County Coroner’s Office has identified Henry Eicher (50) of Bryant, Menno Eicher (25) of Bryant, Paul Eicher (19) of Bryant, and Simon Girod (23) of Bryant as the four people who were killed in the crash,” according to an Indiana State Police press statement. “The Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is working with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Department, and Jay County Coroner’s Office to complete this investigation.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since confirmed that Beishekeev is an illegal migrant from Kyrgyzstan. He arrived in the country via the Biden-era CBP One app and then was given a commercial license in Pennsylvania.
“Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday.”
“It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads,” McLaughlin continued. “These sanctuary governor’s must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed.”
The crash marks the latest fatal highway accident involving illegal migrants who managed to obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
Since August 2025, the trucking industry has been rocked with a string of fatal crashes allegedly caused by illegal migrant truck drivers, with a majority of them having obtained their CDLs in states notorious for refusing to work ICE, such as California. The Department of Transportation responded to the crashes in September by handing down sweeping emergency rules that restricted foreign nationals from obtaining these commercial licenses.
Unlike California — where the DOT recently announced the revocation of millions in DOT funding due to the state’s alleged failures to rein in unlawful commercial licenses — Indiana largely cooperates with federal immigration authorities. Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued an executive order in January that encouraged cooperation with local law enforcement and ICE.
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