Sen. Banks applauds federal action after Jay County fatal truck crash

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- In the wake of a Jay County crash that killed four Amish men earlier this month, U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) applauded the Department of Transportation move to shut down the company and trucking school connected to the driver, an undocumented immigrant from Kyrgyzstan. "These were hardworking men from the local Amish community, and now they’re all dead," Banks told WANE 15 Monday. "This was a totally preventable tragedy caused by a driver who shouldn't have been in this country, let alone behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler." On Monday night, Bekzhan Beishekeev, 30, remained in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency at the Boone County, KY, jail. He has not been charged in Indiana in connection to the crash. Banks was considering legislation to give Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy more tools to crack down on additional carriers, citing other fatal crashes in Indiana blamed on undocumented drivers. "They came here illegally. They go to a shady trucking company school that supposedly teaches them to drive. Then they go to work for a shady trucking company. There are lots of angles to this that we have to shut down and stop. My hope is that we won't have any more of these stories." Last week, Banks launched a trucking tip line that would allow drivers to report trucking carriers suspected of breaking federal law, which, he said, included hiring drivers who could not speak English. "It's a very dangerous situation that's resulted in a number of deaths and injuries in our state," said Banks, "and I hope it stops."