Elizabeth Carter, who described herself as a “lifelong Democrat,” told Congress this week that she is “ashamed” of her own party’s approach to immigration after her son was killed in a crash involving a truck driver who was in the country illegally and had been issued a commercial driver’s license by California.
Carter’s son, William Micah Carter, and his wife, Jennifer Lower, were killed along with their cat, Bert, in late November when their vehicle struck a jackknifed big rig on the road. The truck was driven by Rajinder Kumar, an illegal immigrant. Carter testified that the couple were driving back from their wedding reception in Lower’s hometown in Oregon at the time of the crash.
“Sixteen days after they were married, Billy, Jenny and her cat Bert were killed. They lost the Russian roulette game our government is forcing them to play,” Carter testified.
Under questioning from Rep. Brad Knott, R-NC, Carter criticized her party’s resistance to stricter immigration enforcement.
“We allowed 10 million people in under Biden. How is there a different suggestion as to how to process them, other than the same way they came into the country en masse, leaving?”
She added, “I have to say, as a lifelong Democrat, I am ashamed of what my party is doing.”
Knott responded, “Well, they don’t care,” before turning to the broader political question. “This is the question for the country to consider, is it worth enforcing our laws to protect just one American family?”
“One party says, ‘Absolutely, if we have to mass deport the problem that they built, so be it,'” Knott said. “If it protects one family from having to suffer like you’ve suffered, I think that is a worthwhile endeavor.”
Gesturing toward Democratic members of the committee, Knott said, “They are still defending it. Not one of them will say, if you’re here illegally, get out.”
A broader push on truck driver licensing
The case adds to growing scrutiny of how illegal immigrants have obtained commercial driver’s licenses in states including California, amid a string of fatal crashes involving truckers who lacked legal status.
Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a new tipline allowing Americans to report suspected fraud in the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses, part of the Trump administration’s wider crackdown on unqualified truck drivers.
Announcing the tipline, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “too many American lives have been lost or permanently changed because illegal aliens who have no business being on our roads have been granted CDLs.”
“ICE and our federal partners, including the Department of Transportation, will be cracking down on CDL fraud so that not one more American life is lost to a reckless illegal alien behind the wheel of a semi-truck,” Mullin said.
