(José Niño, Headline USA) Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin set off an uproar this weekend by publishing Department of Homeland Security details on the man accused of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper. In his breaking report, Melugin wrote that the driver “is a Haitian illegal alien who flew into the US via the Biden administration’s CHNV mass parole program in 2024 & received his CDL from the state of Massachusetts.”
BREAKING: DHS confirms to @FoxNews that the semi-truck driver charged w/ killing PA State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. in a crash in PA on Wednesday is a Haitian illegal alien who flew into the US via the Biden administration's CHNV mass parole program in 2024 & received his CDL… pic.twitter.com/1xoXT0xvi8
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 4, 2026
The trooper, 44 year old Michael Pahira Jr., died July 1, 2026, while inspecting a commercial truck along Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County. According to NBC10 Philadelphia, state police say a tractor trailer left the roadway, struck his patrol vehicle and the rig he was checking, then pinned him as both trucks caught fire. Construction workers pulled him free, yet he died hours later, becoming the 106th member of the force to fall in the line of duty. Per abc27, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) called him “the very best of us.”
Melugin named the accused driver as 33-year old Michael Bon of Brockton, Massachusetts. Bon’s truck, the report said, “veered off the road and crashed into the truck Pahira was inspecting, creating a domino effect that killed him and caught both trucks on fire.” Prosecutors charged Bon with “homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and other charges,” a judge set bail at $700,000, and he awaits a preliminary hearing on July 16.
DHS laid out the immigration record Melugin highlighted. Bon flew into Fort Lauderdale as a parolee on July 2, 2024, applied for Temporary Protected Status that October, and lost that bid, per a report by WFMZ-TV 69 News. Melugin stressed that “the Trump administration terminated his legal status in 2025, but he remained in the US illegally.” Per NPR, the Supreme Court cleared Trump to end the CHNV program in 2025 after it had admitted roughly 532,000 migrants from four countries, including Haiti.
The tweet also spotlighted the license. According to Fox News, Massachusetts issued Bon a non-domiciled CDL in March 2025 and renewed it in February 2026, months after DHS revoked his parole. The state’s motor vehicle agency deflected blame, saying federal standards ruled him eligible to drive. ICE has lodged a detainer on Bon with Pennsylvania authorities.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
