Massachusetts fought the rule that would have kept Pennsylvania trooper's alleged killer off the road



Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. was conducting a routine inspection of a tractor-trailer on the side of Interstate 81 South near Ashland on July 1 when a second tractor-trailer allegedly helmed by a Haitian illegal alien careened his way.

The incoming tractor-trailer sideswiped the 44-year-old trooper's cruiser, careened into the truck that Pahira was inspecting, then struck the trooper. Although nearby construction workers were able to pull Pahira free of the flaming wreckage, he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

'Because of these reckless policies, a Pennsylvania State Trooper is dead.'

In the wake of the horrific crash, the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and lawmakers demanded answers — especially to the question of how the illegal alien, 33-year-old Michael Bon, managed to obtain a non-domiciled commercial driver's license.

While a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles attempted to displace blame for her agency's issuance and renewal of Bon's CDL, the U.S. Department of Transportation has corrected the record, making abundantly clear that Massachusetts helped set the stage for Pahira's untimely demise.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Bon was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration in July 2024. He filed an application for Temporary Protected Status in October 2024, which was never granted.

The DHS claimed that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services terminated Bon's parole in June 2025, but the Haitian refused to leave and has remained in the country illegally — living in Massachusetts — ever since, the Boston Herald reported.

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Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

In March 2025 — months prior to the termination of his parole — Bon obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver's license from the MRMV. After his transition to illegal alien, Bon had his CDL renewed in February 2026.

Amelia Aubourg, a spokeswoman for the MRMV, recently attempted to assign blame for Bon's licensing to the Trump administration, telling the Herald that the "Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses program is a federal program," and that "this individual was ruled eligible based on the Trump administration database and allowed to drive by federal law and Trump administration policies."

What Aubourg neglected to mention was that the Trump administration issued a rule in September 2025 barring DACA recipients, asylum-seekers, refugees, TPS holders, and other noncitizens from obtaining, renewing, upgrading, or transferring non-domiciled CDL licenses.

This interim final rule, which would have barred Bon from renewing his CDL in February, was understood at the time to be a lifesaving measure.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a Sept. 26, 2025, statement, "Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers — oftentimes illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses."

After reviewing emergency legal challenges filed by the American Federation of Teachers and other liberal outfits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put the rule on hold in early November.

As part of the broader campaign to torpedo the rule, Massachusetts led 18 other states in filing a joint submission characterizing the rule as unnecessary and unlawful.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D) claimed in a November 2025 letter to Duffy that the rule's "dramatic new restrictions on eligibility for non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses and commercial learner's permits are unlawful" and complained that it would "strip nearly all of the country’s 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders of their licenses and their livelihoods."

Campbell not only claimed that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration lacked the authority to impose the restrictions but cast doubt on whether "these restrictions provide any additional safety benefits."

Campbell was joined in her opposition by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and numerous other radical Democrat officials.

A source familiar with the matter told Blaze News that "had those rules been in place during the driver's February 2026 license renewal, [Bon] would have been deemed ineligible for renewal."

A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson told Blaze News, "Secretary Duffy has spent the last year in office reining in a trucking industry allowed to operate like the Wild West under Biden and Buttigieg. That's why the Department issued a final rule stopping unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers from obtaining licenses to drive commercial trucks and buses."

"States that operate recklessly and fail to enforce our common-sense rules will be held accountable," added the spokesperson.

Blaze News did not immediately receive a response from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office or the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which oversees the MRMV.

The Trump administration successfully issued its final rule preventing unqualified foreign drivers from driving big rigs on March 16.

As for Michael Bon, he has been charged with felony vehicular homicide, felony vehicular aggravated assault, misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and involuntary manslaughter, and various traffic offenses.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also lodged a detainer asking Pennsylvania officials not to release Bon from jail.

"This Haitian illegal alien was RELEASED into our country by the Biden administration, and the sanctuary state of Massachusetts gave him a commercial driver’s license," DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

"Now, because of these reckless policies, a Pennsylvania state trooper is dead after a crash that was 100% preventable. Illegal aliens should not be driving trucks on America’s highways," added Bis.

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Trump DOJ charges illegal aliens in Boston with nearly $1.5 million in welfare fraud



The Trump Justice Department announced on Thursday in the Democrat-run sanctuary city of Boston that it has charged 11 illegal aliens and four Americans with over $1.4 million in alleged benefit fraud.

The defendants — at least six of whom are illegal aliens from the Dominican Republican and at least one of whom is from India — are accused of defrauding various welfare programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and MassHealth.

'They allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars each in benefits for which they are not entitled.'

"These cases highlight a broader, deeply troubling pattern: the exploitation of America’s safety-net by illegal aliens," Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald for the National Fraud Enforcement Division said in a statement.

The Trump administration, which has in recent months ramped up its crackdown on fraud, has long sought to eliminate the monetary incentive for foreign nationals to steal into the country and to pressure those noncitizens presently taking advantage of citizen supports to wean off them or hit the road.

In his Feb. 19, 2025, executive order titled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders," President Donald Trump tasked agencies with taking meaningful steps "to prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet and fueling illegal immigration to the United States, and to ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens."

One of the agencies that promptly took action was the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which beefed up the minimum expectations for eligibility verification to prevent "ineligible aliens" from participating in the program.

While the USDA and other agencies were making it more difficult for those who would exploit citizen welfare programs, the DOJ is nabbing numerous fraudsters across the country who have already unlawfully enjoyed a fortune in benefits.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, who established a benefit and voter fraud team in March devoted to flushing out fraudsters in Massachusetts, said, "Today’s announcement is just the beginning."

"The defendants charged today stole from a number of programs, including SNAP and MassHealth — which are designed to assist U.S. citizens in need of food and health care," continued Foley. "They allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars each in benefits for which they are not entitled."

The Massachusetts defendants charged this past week included:

  • Santo Escolastico Cuello, a 56-year-old illegal alien from the Dominican Republic who was living unlawfully in Worcester. Cuello is charged with aggravated identity theft and making false statements relating to a health care program in connection with $162,180 in MassHealth fraud.
  • Mario Baez Romero, a 45-year-old illegal alien from the Dominican Republic who was living unlawfully in Somerville. Romero has been charged with aggravated identity theft and passport fraud in connection with $26,942 in SNAP fraud and $48,785 in MassHealth fraud.
  • Richard Odelis Vallegas Nunez, a 35-year-old illegal alien from the Dominican Republic living unlawfully in Allston. He has been charged with aggravated identity theft and unlawful production of an identification document in connection with $48,865 in MassHealth fraud.
  • Miguel Diaz Matos, a 54-year-old illegal alien from the Dominican Republic living unlawfully in Lynn. Matos is charged with illegal acquisition or use of SNAP benefits, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft in connection with $13,431 in SNAP fraud and $50,494 in MassHealth fraud.

If convicted, these and other similarly charged defendants could do some hard time.

SNAP fraud over $100 can result in a sentence of up to five years in prison, and SNAP fraud exceeding $5,000 can result in a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Both also carry a potential fine of $250,000.

A report published last week by the Center for Immigration Studies provided some startling insights into welfare use and abuse by noncitizens, about half of whom are apparently illegal immigrants.

Citing Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement data, the report said that 47% of households headed by noncitizens use one or more traditional welfare programs — 19 percentage points higher than the 28% for U.S.-born households.

"Noncitizens use traditional welfare or are EITC/ACTC eligible at higher rates than the U.S.-born in states with generous welfare systems, such as Massachusetts (61% vs. 36%) and Illinois (51% vs. 30%); and in states with less generous systems, like Arizona (60% vs. 30%) and Florida (53% vs. 30%)," said the report.

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Federal judge strikes down Trump's key H-1B proclamation



Last September, President Trump issued a well-received proclamation intended to discourage the continued use and abuse of the now very well-known H-1B program. The policy, however, has hit a roadblock in the courts.

On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa sponsor fee is unlawful.

'They're hurting our country very badly.'

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, appointed by Obama in 2014, ruled that the $100,000 fee violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution.

Judge Sorokin of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts argued that the policy is effectively a tax, and Congress had not clearly delegated the prerogative of levying it to the president. The judge agreed with the states that "the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax."

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The lawsuit was brought in December by 20 states, many of which are led by Democrats and which draw heavily from the H-1B program.

“Every day, thousands of people with H-1B visas serve New Yorkers as doctors, teachers, and other skilled workers,” Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose state was among those who brought the suit, told CNBC.

“Today a court put an end to this administration’s illegal attempt to destroy this critical program and the many jobs it makes possible,” James said.

When asked for a response to the ruling, Trump told a reporter, “These federal judges are really giving us a hard time.”

“It’s really crazy what’s going on with the court system,” Trump added, according to CNBC. “They’re hurting our country very badly.”

The Trump administration intends to appeal the decision and expects it to be reversed.

In a statement to Reuters, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said, "President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is ⁠exactly what he did."

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