A Democratic candidate waging a high-stakes bid for one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country touted connections to a group pushing to keep laxer restrictions around commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for undocumented immigrants.
Rebecca Cooke, running in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District to unseat incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., highlighted an endorsement from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
“I’m honored to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the hard-working men and women of AFSCME,” Cooke wrote.
Cooke’s alignment with AFSCME continues Democrats’ pushback against crackdowns on proof of citizenship status in certain industries.
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Cooke did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security has highlighted several instances where Americans were killed by illegal aliens who acquired CDLs.
In one such case, Dawood Hussain, a Pakistani native, was charged in April with vehicular homicide after driving a commercial truck down the wrong way of a highway, killing a U.S. citizen in a collision.
“Illegal aliens should not be operating 80,000-pound tractor-trailers on American roads,” USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said of the incident.
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“This tragedy, like many others, was completely preventable. Under President Trump’s leadership, USCIS remains committed to safeguarding our communities by helping to ensure dangerous illegal aliens are removed from our country, as well as supporting the president’s call for even tougher measures to prevent future truck tragedies.”
As states and federal lawmakers evaluate rules surrounding CDLs, AFSCME has pushed back, arguing that the standards should remain open to encourage job maximization — even for illegal immigrants.
The group published a toolkit instructing businesses how to circumvent restrictions on CDLs for illegal aliens.
Additionally, the group has sued the Trump administration for imposing federal requirements through the Department of Transportation that would require states to secure proof of lawful immigration status.
Cooke’s alignment with AFSCME is especially noteworthy in Wisconsin, a state with a trucking workforce.
Over 186,600 residents of Wisconsin are employed in the trucking industry, according to the Wisconsin Motor Carrier Association — a figure accounting for roughly one in every 14 jobs in the state.
Cooke last lost a congressional election to Van Orden, 51.3% to 48.6%, in 2024.
