Banks claims seven Indiana residents died in the past six months from illegal migrant truck drivers

Indiana Republican Sen. Jim Banks said Monday that at least seven Americans in his state have died in the past six months because of truck drivers who are also illegal migrants, including four people who were killed last week.

The Department of Homeland Security has identified the driver of a semi-truck in the latest incident as Bekzhan Beishekeev, a Kyrgyzstani national, who allegedly failed to stop for another truck and instead entered oncoming traffic, colliding with a van. Beishekeev is currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Banks told senators about the latest crash during a floor speech. The incident killed a 50-year-old man, his 19-year-old and 25-year-old sons and a friend of theirs from the Amish community, he said.

"I am angry about it; I have had enough of it," he lamented. "Because it is stories like this that show why mass deportations matter and why they are needed now more than ever. 

"At least 7 Hoosiers have died on Indiana roads in the past six months because of illegal immigrants recklessly driving on our roads," he continued. "At least 8 more have been seriously injured and those are just the cases that I know about."

The senator highlighted the other cases, which included two parents who were seriously injured on their way to pick up their child from the child's grandparents' house, and an Indiana National Guard member who died after an illegal migrant crashed into a military vehicle, which also wounded the three other passengers.

"At least 7 innocent Hoosiers have died in their own state because of illegal immigrant drivers," he repeated. "Every single one of these deaths was preventable. Every single one of these deaths happened because someone who shouldn’t have been in our country in the first place got behind the wheel and killed American citizens."

Banks' speech comes after the Transportation Department said last week that it had pulled hundreds of illegal migrant truckers who failed to meet English proficiency standards from the road. 

The latest iteration of Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) ran from Jan. 13–15 on trucking corridors in 26 states and the District of Columbia.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.