The pro-immigrant United We Dream Action (UWDA) PAC has launched digital ads in a number of battleground states targeting embattled Republican senators for their catastrophic novel coronavirus pandemic response and failure to protect young undocumented immigrants thrown into limbo by impeached president Donald Trump’s cruel rescission of the popular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“You hear that?” one ad targeting North Carolina’s Thom Tillis asks over the sound of crickets. “That’s Thom Tillis’ silence on Trump’s disastrous COVID-19 response. It’s his silence when Trump destroys our DACA protections. It’s his silence when Trump deports young immigrants and separates families in deportation camps in the middle of a pandemic. We’re done with it.” Similar ads target Arizona’s Martha McSally, Colorado’s Cory Gardner, and Texas’ John Cornyn.
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While things haven’t been looking so hot for Thom Tillis, Cory Gardner, and the unelected Martha McSally, the digital ads come as Texas’ John Cornyn has begun to publicly panic over his race against Democratic nominee and military veteran MJ Hegar suddenly heating up. Example: Cornyn has spent years claiming that oh, he really wants immigration fixes when in reality he’s nothing but a saboteur. Time after time, he’s voted against legislation, and been damn proud of it.
But now in panic mode, Cornyn is laughably claiming he’s actually been working for undocumented youth behind the scenes, but just hadn’t bothered to say anything until a couple weeks before Election Day. Sure, John.
“The total ad buy is $600,000 and targets Latinx voters and first time voters, including newly naturalized citizens,” UWDA PAC continued in a release received by Daily Kos. “The ads will run online through Election Day and they urge Latinx, and young voters to get loud and make their voices heard by voting out Trump and Republicans … The ads point out how the silence from these Republicans makes them complicit in Trump’s agenda.”
UWDA PAC said in the release that it’s also running digital ads in Florida, Michigan, and Minnesota, where they “condemn Trump directly for his failed response to COVID-19 that has left more than 210,000 Americans dead, and for his attacks on immigrant communities and families.” Florida alone has seen more than 15,000 deaths due to the virus, no doubt aided by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump sycophant.
The ads, UWDA PAC continues, “show viewers what another four years of Trump will look like: more pain and suffering.”
“This week we’re rolling out ads all across the country because we already know what four more years of a Trump presidency looks like and we have to do everything we can to stop it,” said Cristina Jiménez, cofounder of UWDA PAC. “The best way to protect our communities is to ensure every eligible voter votes against Trump and his Republican enablers. These digital ads will motivate and energize Latinx, first-time voters, and young voters to go to the ballot box in huge numbers in key battleground states.”
Recent research shows that young immigrants affected by the Trump administration’s rescission of the DACA program—and subsequent defiance of the Supreme Court order keeping the program in place for now—are hugely motivated ahead of November, with nearly 95% of surveyed DACA recipients saying they plan to encourage family and friends who are eligible to vote to cast their ballots in this year’s election.
“Trump and his Republican enablers must be defeated by the largest possible margins,” Jiménez continued. “This election is the fight for our lives, and we’re all in. We’re here to stay and here to win.”