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Trooper’s death in I-81 crash leads to renewed call for CDL reforms
PennLive ^ | 14 July A.D. 2026 | Jeff Hovath

Posted on 07/14/2026 9:08:40 AM PDT by lightman

SPRING BROOK TWP. — In the wake of a fiery Schuylkill County crash that killed a Pennsylvania state trooper this month, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) reiterated his support for a proposed law aimed at preventing people in the country illegally from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.

Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Massachusetts, faces felony vehicular homicide and other charges after his tractor-trailer veered off Interstate 81 early on July 1 and caused the crash that killed Trooper Michael Pahira.

Pahira, a 20-year state police veteran, was conducting a routine commercial inspection in Cass Twp. Bon, who was issued a CDL by the state of Massachusetts, is a Haitian immigrant who has been in the country illegally since June 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“We cannot change what happened to Trooper Pahira, but we can take action to help prevent another tragedy,” Bresnahan said at a news conference this week.

The first-term GOP congressman, joined Monday by officials from the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, is a cosponsor of proposed legislation known as Dalilah’s Law.

It’s named for Dalilah Coleman, a child who suffered life-altering injuries in a 2024 California crash involving a CDL driver DHS said crossed the southern border illegally in 2022.

Among other features, the legislation requires states to verify they are not issuing CDLs to undocumented immigrants and would significantly increase penalties for states that fail to comply by withholding federal funds.

It also aims to ensure that CDL holders understand English.

The Boston Herald reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Bon into the United States on July 2, 2024, as a parolee. Bon later filed an application for Temporary Protected Status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under the Biden administration, but it was never granted, according to that reporting. USCIS terminated Bon’s parole in June 2025. He remained in the country illegally thereafter.

In a statement to the Herald, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles said Bon was eligible for and received a Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s License under federal standards at the time of his application in March 2025.

Bon applied to renew his CDL this past February, before the Trump administration implemented a rule in March restricting non-domiciled CDL eligibility. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles told the Herald he would not have been approved if he applied for renewal next year.

Bresnahan is running for reelection this year against Democratic Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, who said in a statement she supports the Dalilah’s Law legislation. She also said she’s “heartbroken” for Pahira’s family, “for his fellow PSP troopers, and for the whole Frackville Barracks community.”

Pahira’s funeral was held last week in Ashland.

Bon remains in Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $700,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26. ICE lodged a detainer request asking officials not to release him from custody.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Massachusetts; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: cdl; haitianinvasion; illegalimmigrant; lodd; readenglishorwalk
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Funeral procession for fallen Trooper Michael E. Pahira, Jr.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

1 posted on 07/14/2026 9:08:40 AM PDT by lightman
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To: fatima; Fresh Wind; st.eqed; xsmommy; House Atreides; Nowhere Man; PaulZe; brityank; Physicist; ...

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

2 posted on 07/14/2026 9:10:15 AM PDT by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: lightman

“U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) reiterated his support for a proposed law aimed at preventing people in the country illegally from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.”

I thought we already had about a million laws on the books to stop this crap.


3 posted on 07/14/2026 9:12:50 AM PDT by dljordan (Yeah, I'm a BooYou must be able to hit the bullseyemer and it's all my fault you whiny little bitch.)
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To: lightman

No remorse from the Biden’s whatsoever. Evil SOB’s


4 posted on 07/14/2026 9:13:28 AM PDT by albie
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To: lightman

ICE should open the weigh stations and just check each driver as they go by. Leave the truck there until the trucking company sends out a new driver. And fine the trucking company. Make them bleed.


5 posted on 07/14/2026 9:18:31 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Enoch Powell warned us about Rivers of Blood. Well, I sure hope they're coming. It's the only fix.)
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To: dljordan

“I thought we already had about a million laws on the books to stop this crap.”

In most states, to get a driver’s license you must be at least 16 years old and pass a series of three tests: a vision screening, a written knowledge test, and a behind-the-wheel driving test. You will also need to provide specific documentation to your state’s licensing agency to verify your identity, Social Security Number (SSN), and state residency. Either one of these is easy to obtain and produce. There are few changes to getting a CDL. The main one being age, 16 to 21. Everything else you already provided. It’s one of the ways unskilled labor can get a good paying job. So they don’t have to do anything except pass a written knowledge test after training. Piece of cake.

wy69


6 posted on 07/14/2026 9:25:25 AM PDT by whitney69
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To: lightman

If only Gov Shapiro would work with ICE instead of fighting plans for new ICE detention centers in PA warehouses (he’s pledged to use “every power” to block them). He has also refused to share sensitive voter and food-benefit data with federal authorities.

He has blood on his hands! Bastard.


7 posted on 07/14/2026 9:38:30 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: dljordan

“I thought we already had about a million laws on the books to stop this crap.”

That may be, but law #1,000,001 will fix things right up! It’s the “lawmaker way.” You know, “when the only tool you have is a hammer...”


8 posted on 07/14/2026 9:39:32 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: whitney69

“ It’s one of the ways unskilled labor can get a good paying job. So they don’t have to do anything except pass a written knowledge test after training. Piece of cake.”
In TX its a lot harder than what you listed. Written test, not easy to pass, then you have to drive a truck with an officer. Forward parking, reverse parking, forward offset parking, backing offset parking, and a road test. I’ve been told you also have to have completed a truck driving school course. That costs money upfront. Not as easy in Texas to get that commercial license.


9 posted on 07/14/2026 9:43:57 AM PDT by 9422WMR ( )
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To: 9422WMR

Texas is just one state with real tests for a CDL. What about the rest of the country? They all should be that tough.


10 posted on 07/14/2026 9:51:15 AM PDT by spincaster (i)
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To: lightman

In the wake of a fiery Schuylkill County crash that killed a Pennsylvania state trooper this month, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) reiterated his support for a proposed law aimed at preventing people in the country illegally from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.

Why the half measure? Why does an illegal have ANY right to drive here?

11 posted on 07/14/2026 9:54:25 AM PDT by BlackbirdSST (FTL)
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To: lightman

Pennsylvania is the Keystone State.

Virtually all traffic to New England states must go through Pennsylvania. Time to set up 24/7/365 checkpoints on all major highways through Pennsylvania. Including I-80 that goes into NYC.


12 posted on 07/14/2026 10:07:45 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: lightman

“Reforms”

Yeah, sure. Enforce existing law, and jail/execute the clowns facilitating these atrocities. They have been doing this under the color of law.

If you don’t demand they follow existing law, that they are not following anyway, how is it yet another law will tip the scales into compliance?


13 posted on 07/14/2026 10:08:32 AM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: dljordan

Low IQ legislatures like Biden and dems opening our borders have caused all of this death and destruction, make them legally responsible. Why put the onus on people trying to make a legitimate, prosecute the dems who broke laws.


14 posted on 07/14/2026 10:26:24 AM PDT by chopperk (,)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Shapiro is too busy suing the Little Sisters of the Poor
15 posted on 07/14/2026 10:36:31 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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To: lightman
ICE lodged a detainer request asking officials not to release him from custody.

Good luck with that, ICE...

16 posted on 07/14/2026 10:37:17 AM PDT by null and void (Trump isn't a pussycat, but he does have nine lives!)
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To: tired&retired
Time to set up 24/7/365 checkpoints on all major highways through Pennsylvania. Including I-80 that goes into NYC.

At the PA border, block incoming illegal traffic, bottle up illegals in PA...

17 posted on 07/14/2026 10:40:56 AM PDT by null and void (Trump isn't a pussycat, but he does have nine lives!)
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To: 9422WMR

You forgot parallel parking with a trailer in tow.


18 posted on 07/14/2026 11:01:44 AM PDT by Bikkuri
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To: Bikkuri

I read over the requirements for a CDL in TX. Was going by memory.


19 posted on 07/14/2026 11:13:43 AM PDT by 9422WMR ( )
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To: dljordan

Well, Princess Kathy and Queenie “Tish” in New York State say the hell wit dat.


20 posted on 07/14/2026 11:37:09 AM PDT by Shady (#EnoughIsEnough, and we have HAD ENOUGH!)
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