Comment from Michael Ellebrecht

Hello, My name is Mike. I live in the Kansas City metro area. I have a friend, Francisco, who is a DACA recipient and drives trucks for a living. He is married to a US citizen, and they have two beautiful children. This American family is struggling big time since the new non-domiciled CDL rule took effect back in March. That rule has put Francisco out of work and it is unclear what the best path forward for this family is. It has come to my attention that the requested exemption for DACA recipients to be able to get a class B CDL (FMCSA-2025-0886) would permit my friend to resume work with his current company. This would be an answer to my and their prayers and a win-win for their family, his company, Kansas, and America. I believe one of the most American things we can do is to allow each man to prove his worth on his own without grouping him in with your favorite category. Whether it's race, native tongue, country of origin, or immigration status; treating a broad category of people based on the bad behavior of a few members of that group is lazy and unfair. There is precisely one group of people that should have their CDLs revoked: the incompetent. If Francisco's driving history reveals he's a bad driver, then by all means, take away his CDL. But don't be lazy and revoke all immigrants' ability to work as truck drivers just because some immigrants' driving history were hard to verify and some states issued CDLs to incompetent people as a result. Test him. Review him. If it costs more to give a CDL to a DACA recipient than a US citizen, then charge them more for it (I'd be happy to gift my friend the additional cost). But don't blanket revoke his right to work in his skilled trade. He's lived in the US for decades. He's not fresh off the boat. I'm confident that you can easily find out how good a driver Francisco is given how long he's lived and driven in the USA. I appreciate what the March 2026 FMCSA non-domiciled CDL final rule was attempting to accomplish and agree that _all_ CDL holders _must_ be adequately vetted. But tossing out _all_ immigrants, including DACA recipients, is swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. A better approach is to actually verify the fitness of _all_ CDL holders, no matter their immigration status. The American economy will be better off when all the best truck drivers are at work, doing their jobs, regardless of their immigration status.