In addition to the debate that will take place between 11 Republican presidential candidates Wednesday night, there will be dueling immigration ads debating what to do with the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
The Latino Victory Fund launched an ad campaign on Sunday featuring Latinos blasting the most xenophobic rhetoric from the 2016 presidential candidates on the immigration debate so far. The ad ran on television in Colorado and Nevada.
At an event at the National Press Club on Wednesday September 16, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Latino Victory Project, Mi Familia Vota, National Council of La Raza Action Fund and United We Dream Action came together to pledge to support candidates who don’t use such divisive terms.
“In 2016, we Latinos have the power to change the course of history with our vote,” Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., said at an event unveiling the call to action, “el grito,” to the Latino community on Wednesday. “Now is the time to get up, get registered and make our voices heard. We cannot wait, because next year will be too late. We have power in numbers if we mobilize and use it wisely.”
The National Immigration Action Fund is airing spots featuring footage of Reagan, an ad that NumbersUSA calls misleading.
“The National Immigration Action Fund is running an ad that seems — by the choice of an out-of-context video snippet from Ronald Reagan — to suggest that America should have virtually open borders to everybody in the world who wants to come here and compete for jobs,” said NumbersUSA President Roy Beck.
Beck’s group is firing back with its own spot.
“I’d also like to remind you of the NumbersUSA ad that will air … focusing on the numbers behind U.S. immigration policy — a topic likely to be addressed by the candidates,” Beck said in what might be the understatement of the pre-debate hype.
Also ahead of the debate, United We Dream Action, a nonprofit focused on legalizing undocumented youth immigrants, called on the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to rescind billionaire Donald Trump’s invitation to speak before the business group.
His appearance, slated for Oct. 8, “is a slap to the face of our community,” for the business coalition to provide Trump with a platform, the group wrote in a letter. The chamber is providing “cover and legitimacy to a candidate who refers to Mexican immigrants as ‘rapists’ and ‘criminals.'”
Trump has re-ignited the debate over immigration with his fiery rhetoric, which Vice President Joe Biden decried as xenophobic at an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory Wednesday night.
“I want you to remember, notwithstanding the fact that one guy absolutely denigrated an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on his notion of xenophobia in a way that hasn’t occurred in a long time,” Biden told the crowd of Latino lawmakers and luminaries.
