The AFL-CIO seems to have decided screw it, rather than trying to cajole House Republicans into supporting immigration reform by being all nice and pleading, let's remind them how opposing it can cause them pain. The union federation is launching a
seven-figure ad campaign on Spanish-language television that should do a pretty good job reminding Latino voters why they don't vote Republican:
One ad shared with POLITICO shows Texas Rep. Lamar Smith calling the popular DREAM Act “a nightmare for the American people” and quotes Georgia Rep. Paul Broun saying undocumented immigrants are “criminals and they need to be treated as such.” Iowa Rep. Steve King makes an appearance in one clip, referring to illegal immigrants “hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
And in multiple commercials, the AFL-CIO highlights Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks’s statement that he would do “anything short of shooting” undocumented workers in order to crack down in illegal immigration.
The message to Latino voters is "yeah, these guys really are that bad"—and if Republican leadership won't bring immigration reform to a vote, it proves that these aren't a few isolated elected crazies, they're the voice of the party. The message to Republicans is "remember that 27 percent of the Latino vote you got in 2012? How would you like for that to be a high point?"
“We feel it’s time, and more than appropriate, to tell the Republicans that if they don’t act on immigration reform, we plan to exact a price in upcoming elections,” [AFL-CIO strategist Tom] Snyder explained. “We want to spur House Republicans into action on immigration reform this year, right now, and we’re going to hold Republican congressmen responsible for their hostile statements about Latino immigrants.”
The ads will run in Spanish in Atlanta; Denver; Orlando; Bakersfield, California; and in English in Washington, DC.
