Federal immigration authorities have arrested a Pakistani national living in the United States illegally who is charged with felony vehicular homicide in connection with a 2023 commercial truck crash that killed a Maryland father of two.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday the arrest of Dawood Hussain, who authorities say was driving a commercial semi-truck the wrong way on a Pennsylvania highway in October 2023 when he struck and killed Hendry Tamarez Nunez, a U.S. citizen and Maryland resident.
USCIS said its screening and vetting process identified Mr. Hussain’s pending criminal charges and flagged him as a public safety threat. Officers then alerted Immigration and Customs Enforcement ahead of a scheduled interview at USCIS’s Arlington, Virginia, office, where ICE agents arrested him without incident. He will remain in custody pending trial.
“Illegal aliens should not be operating 80,000-pound tractor-trailers on American roads,” USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement. “This tragedy, like many others, was completely preventable.”
The arrest follows a new rule from the Department of Transportation issued by Secretary Sean Duffy that took effect in mid-March, sharply narrowing eligibility for commercial driver’s licenses to holders of certain employment-based nonimmigrant visa statuses. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says the rule closes a gap that had allowed tens of thousands of foreign nationals to obtain CDLs without verified driving histories. Under the revised standard, individuals such as Mr. Hussain would no longer be eligible for a CDL.
Mr. Hussain had previously been issued a CDL prior to his arrest, according to USCIS.
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