Truck driver in fatal Pa. State Trooper crash is in U.S. illegally, DHS says | Schuylkill County Area
The commercial truck driver from Massachusetts accused of hitting and killing a Pennsylvania State Trooper in Schuylkill County is an illegal immigrant, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.
It says Michael Bon is a Haitian illegal immigrant who’s been living in the U.S. illegally since June of last year and who obtained a commercial driver’s license from the state of Massachusetts.
Investigators say he was driving the tractor trailer that hit Trooper Michael Pahira Wednesday morning while the trooper was conducting a safety inspection on another commercial vehicle.
It happened along I-81 in Cass Township, Schuylkill County.
Bon was arrested Wednesday and charged with homicide by vehicle and related charges.
There’s no word yet on what caused Bon’s vehicle to go off the highway.
DHS says Bon was admitted into the U.S. as a parolee in July of 2024. That October, Bon filed for temporary protected status, which was never granted.
In June of 2025, U.S. Citizenship And Immigration ended Bon’s parole and issued him a notice.
Despite this, Bon did not leave the country and stayed illegally in Brockton.
He was driving tractor trailers with a non-domiciled CDL issued by the state of Massachusetts.
We reached out to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
A spokesperson says that when Bon applied for a non-domiciled CDL in March of 2025 and renewed it in February of 2026, he was eligible to work in the U.S. under federal standards.
“Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr.’s death is a horrific and terrible tragedy. We mourn him and our thoughts are with his loved ones and fellow troopers. This defendant should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses program is a federal program. This individual was ruled eligible based on the Trump administration database and allowed to drive by federal law and Trump administration policies,” a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles spokesperson said in a statement.
In March of 2026, just one month after Bon renewed his non-domiciled CDL, the Trump administration’s final rule went into effect, which directs states not to renew or issue new non-domiciled CDLs.
If and when Michael Bon applied for renewal next year, he would have been rejected in accordance with federal law.
On Thursday, ICE requested an immigration detainer against Bon.
