JoCasta Zamarripa, the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin secretary of state, told WMTV that her top priority if elected is getting driver's licenses for people in the country illegally - and she wants David Crowley to be the governor who signs them into law.
Asked whether Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor and Milwaukee County executive, had signed on, Zamarripa acknowledged the two haven't discussed it yet. "We're going to talk soon," she said, adding that she feels "confident" he'll back it because "as a legislator he was supportive."
Years of Bills, None Passed
Zamarripa, a Milwaukee alder and five-term former Assembly member, has pushed "driver card" bills for undocumented immigrants for years, and none became law. One version she sponsored would have issued licenses that couldn't be used to board a plane or enter a federal building; she pitched it then as economic development: "Latinos are great consumers." An earlier version specified the card would not be valid for voting.
Her case now is public safety:
"Driver's licenses for undocumented Wisconsinites is going to improve the public safety of all Wisconsinites, whether they're fifth generation U.S. citizens or brand-new, newly arrived immigrants, because it's going to mean more folks with a driver's license driving on our roads, more folks accessing affordable automobile insurance."
An Office With No Say
Wisconsin has barred undocumented immigrants from getting licenses since a law took effect in 2007. Gov. Tony Evers put licenses for all in his budget proposals, and Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee stripped them out.
The job Zamarripa is running for wouldn't change that. Wisconsin's secretary of state doesn't issue driver's licenses or run elections - the Department of Transportation and the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission do - and the office mainly keeps official records and the Great Seal. Zamarripa concedes as much: "I'll no longer be that legislator with the vote in that way, but I believe I can use the office as a platform."
Her pick for governor has been blunt on immigration. "When it comes to immigration, I'm not an ally; I'm an accomplice," Crowley has said on the campaign trail. He has said he doesn't see "any scenario" in which local law enforcement would want to partner with ICE, and Republican Tom Tiffany has built an ad around the line, cutting it between crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Wisconsin.
The Fond du Lac Case
The interview landed the same week Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney charged Elmer Jose Cardona Bustillo, a Honduran man prosecutors say is in the country illegally, with knowingly operating a vehicle while suspended, causing great bodily harm. Immigration records show he was ordered removed by an immigration judge in November 2015, Toney said.
According to the complaint, the pickup Cardona Bustillo was driving struck a 50-year-old woman with Down syndrome in a crosswalk shortly before 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 9, and he acknowledged knowing he wasn't allowed to drive. He told officers he didn't see her; the complaint notes it was dark and she was wearing dark clothing. She was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where Toney said she is "fighting for her life." Cardona Bustillo is presumed innocent; a preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 23.
The Race
Zamarripa, unopposed in the August primary, faces Republican businessman Jay Schroeder and the Green Party's Pete Karas on Nov. 3 for a seat left open by Democrat Sarah Godlewski's run for lieutenant governor. Schroeder wants to eliminate the Elections Commission and move election administration into the office; Ballotpedia's forecaster rates the race Leans Democratic.
Zamarripa frames the stakes in partisan terms: "It is really critical that this office remain in Democratic hands," she told WPR.
