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January 2008
NCLR decries “hate speech” on cable news
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) on Thursday called on the nation’s largest cable news channels to stop “parroting hate speech” and “demonizing the Hispanic community.”
Janet Murguia, president of the group, said that a rise in such rhetoric surrounding the issue of immigration has contributed to an increase in crimes against U.S. Hispanics.
“This strain of hate has found a new home. This hate is open. It’s ugly and it demonizes all Latinos in the emerging debate on immigration,” she said, at a press conference.
NCLR said that the nation’s three top cable news networks — CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC — regularly invite anti-immigrant extremists to their shows and do not identify the groups they are with or the fact that some are affiliated with white supremacist organizations.
She said it would be like inviting former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to discuss Affirmative Action policy.
In addition, Murguia said that talk show hosts and commentators — including CNN’s Lou Dobbs, MSNBC contributor Patrick Buchanan, and Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, often repeat the “hate speech” arguments against illegal immigrants.
Several myths are propagated on these shows, including that illegal immigrants are “invading” the United States, that they bring disease and crime, and that Mexicans want to reclaim the Southwest United States as part of their homeland, Murguia said. In addition, they use word such as “swarm” or “massive horde” when referring to illegal immigrants in an effort to dehumanize them, she said.
The group cited some examples, including:
— Glenn Beck on his radio show proposing — as a joke — to have a factory that takes the bodies of Mexican illegal immigrants and turns them into a fuel called “Mexinol.”
— MSNBC Political Commentator Pat Buchanan saying that the United States is experiencing “a whole scale invasion, the greatest invasion in human history coming across your Southern border, changing the composition and the character of your country.”
— On CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, someone identified as a medical lawyer saying that U.S. cases of leprosy have spiked because of illegal immigration — with 7,000 cases in the past three years. In reality, there have been 7,000 cases in the past 30 years and the peak year was 1983. After being questioned on the report, Dobbs said that he regretted using the source.
NCLR has started a campaign to combat such rhetoric on immigration and sent letters to the three cable news networks asking for meetings. Officials at CNN agreed to an exchange and Murguia will appear on Lou Dobbs Tonight Monday. Fox News Channel and MSNBC have not yet responded to the NCLR request.
In addition, NCLR started a Web site — http://www.wecanstopthehate.org — which will post clips and quotes from news and radio shows and identify the guests on the shows and their ties to extremist groups.
The Web site also includes a map of hate crimes against Hispanics in the United States.
In its most recent report on hate crimes, the FBI said that such violence against Latinos increased 10 percent from 2005 to 2006.
Spokespersons for Lou Dobbs Tonight and The Glenn Beck Program said they had no comment on the NCLR charges. MSNBC and Fox News Channel did not immediately return calls for comment.
Murguia said that Hispanic groups will eventually go after the television show advertisers if the situation doesn’t change.
“If we’re not going to get to the networks, we’re going to get to the sponsors,” she said.
McCain wins big with Hispanics in Florida
In Florida’s presidential primary last night, Hispanics backed Sen. John McCain by a large margin, contributing to his victory.
The story says that McCain’s life story as a former POW in Vietnam was particularly appealing to Cuban-Americans, who suffered their own torments from a Communist government.
McCain is also popular among many Latinos for spearheading immigration legislation in Congress that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and created a guest worker program. The measure, which also bolstered border security, died in the Senate last year.
To read more, click here.
Kennedy endorsement could help Obama with Hispanics
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s name “is gold in the Latino community,” which means his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama could bring Hispanic voters to Obama’s camp, The Hill newspaper reported Tuesday.
However, with time running short before many of the most heavily Latino states vote, it could be too little, too late, the article added.
Kennedy and Obama are seen here sitting together at Monday’s State of the Union speech.
To read more, click here.
Those border fence hearings? None in the Rio Grande Valley
Responding to vehement, broad-based criticism that federal officials are planning a border fence with little feedback from residents in the Rio Grande Valley, the government has steadfastly maintained that it is reaching out and letting everyone have a say.
As proof that it was engaging residents in dialogue, the Department of Homeland Security recently offered up a “fact sheet” noting it had hosted 18 town hall meetings on its plan to erect 70 miles of border fencing in the Valley by the end of the year.
There was one problem, however. The Rio Grande Guardian, an online news site, reported Sunday that none of the 18 meetings were actually held in the Valley, a four-county area in deepest South Texas where opposition to a border wall is among the loudest in the state.
“Two of the 18 were held outside of Texas, another two were telephone conversations with mayors, while many were acknowledged to be “briefings” held at Border Patrol stations,” the Guardian reported.
Nevertheless, a Department of Homeland Security official told the news site that the federal government has “engaged extensively” in dialogue in the Rio Grande Valley.
For months, landowners, elected officials, business leaders and environmentalists have complained bitterly that a border fence will disrupt commerce, the environment and a binational, bicultural way of life that has endured for centuries along the border with Mexico.
Federal officials say the fence is necessary to help deter illegal immigration. Critics contend there are more effective ways to accomplish the goal, such as more agents and more technology.
Obama to Hispanics: “This is your country.”
Barack Obama is on the air in California this week with a new bilingual television ad.
The spot features clips from an Obama speech in English with subtitles in Spanish.
“Hope is what led me here today. With a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas and a story that could only happen in the United States of America,” Obama says.
In addition, a Spanish language narrator says: “Now this is your country. Don’t let anyone or anything take away those dreams.”
The narrator also refers to “ordinary people, cooks, construction workers, professionals, heads of house, who together can believe with Barack Obama that we can indeed do extraordinary things.”
Obama has struggled to gain Hispanic voters. In Nevada’s Democratic caucuses last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York received 64 percent of Hispanic votes, according to entry polls. Obama received 26 percent of Hispanic caucus votes and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, 8 percent. Latinos comprised 15 percent of caucus participants.
In addition, a Field Poll released last week shows Clinton has a 59 percent to 19 percent advantage over Obama among Latinos likely to vote in the California primary on Feb. 5. However, the poll also showed that 18 percent remain undecided.
You can see the ad here:
Romney releases new television ad — in Spanish
Presidential candidates continue to release television ads in Spanish.
Mitt Romney is on the air in Florida with a new one that touts his business credentials.
The ad refers to the slowing economy and mortgage crisis and says that “we need a leader who truly knows how to save the economic situation.”
It also says: “Mitt Romney is known as America’s best businessman. He knows how the economy works because he has worked in the business world for more than 25 years. Mitt Romney. Because you can’t lead a nation’s economy if you lack the experience in the real world.”
Romney has been criticized for releasing ads in Spanish while promoting English as the nation’s official language. To read more about that, click here.
Here is the new Romney television ad:
Obama supporters woo Latinos with telenovelas
Supporters of Sen. Barack Obama have embraced a traditional Hispanic form of entertainment to push their candidate — telenovelas.
The wildly popular dramatic soap operas — which dominate prime time on Spanish-language networks in the United States and Latin America — are a staple in many Hispanic households.
The pro-Obama videos, launched by the San Francisco-based political action committee Vote Hope, depict three different stories all involving the fictitious Ortiz family.
Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, a spokeswoman for Vote Hope, said that the telenovelas are part of an effort, dubbed “Tu Voz, Tu Voto,” or “your voice, your vote,” to reach Latinos who are not involved in the political process and are ignored my most campaigns.
Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a professor of media studies at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, said that telenovelas are an intrinsic part of Latino culture, especially among immigrants in the United States.
“They have grown up watching telenovelas and their parents watched telenovelas,” she said.
Acosta-Alzuru said that the Obama videos have some classic elements of telenovelas, including a multi-generational family narrative, but they lack the key element of the genre — a love story.
“I don’t really know if this will make it for Barack Obama or not because, yes, people will find the story interesting, but maybe it really doesn’t feel like a novela,” she said.
To read the full story, click here.
Tancredo demands pardon for border agents after another killed
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., demanded a pardon of two former Border Patrol agents this week after another agent was killed in the line of duty.
Supporters say that the agents were wrongly convicted for protecting the United States against criminal intruders.
“Border Patrol agents risk their lives everyday to prevent illegal aliens, illicit narcotics and terrorists from entering this country,” Tancredo said. “It is time we pardon Ramos and Compean and send a clear message to potential smugglers that our Border Patrol will use any means necessary to prevent illegal border crossings.”
Earlier this month, Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar was killed in the line of duty as he tried to stop a suspected drug smuggler.
Tancredo said that “the overzealous prosecution of Ramos and Compean has created a situation where Border Patrol agents now have to worry about being prosecuted and imprisoned for doing their job.”
In addition, he said: “In the ultra-violent world of drug cartels and human traffickers, even the slightest hesitation by law enforcement can be the difference between life and death. A pardon for Ramos and Compean would go a long way toward restoring confidence in our Border Patrol that this administration is on the side of law enforcement — not the Mexican cartels and the open-borders lobby.”
Members of Congress — including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas — have asked President Bush to pardon Compean and Ramos or commute their sentences.
The prosecutor in the case, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas, has staunchly defended the case.
Gutierrez “frustrated” with Obama outreach to Latinos
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a leader on immigration issues on Capitol Hill, slammed Sen. Barack Obama’s outreach to Hispanic voters, according to an article in Politico today.
“When you are washing dishes and waiting tables and are working these kinds of jobs, you don’t pick up Newsweek and find out the phenomenon about Barack Obama,” said Gutierrez, who says Latinos don’t know Obama.
To read the story, click here.
Immigration ad: Press “one” for English
In a sure sign of things to come, an ad attacking Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina starts with the words: “To see this message in English, press one.”
The ad is by Buddy Witherspoon, a Republican waging a primary challenge against Graham.
Graham upset many conservatives last year when he supported a large immigration bill that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, increased border security, and created a guest worker program. The plan failed in the Senate.
The television advertisement features images of Hispanics, including some crossing a fence, and Spanish-speaking voices which say in a heavy accent: “Gracias Lindsey Graham” or “thank you, Lindsey Graham.”
In addition, a narrator says in the spot: “Enough is enough. It’s time for a senator with South Carolina values” and “Lindsey’s too liberal for South Carolina.”
In response, Graham campaign manager Scott Farmer told WCBD-TV in Charleston that the senator is a strong conservative who has fought to defeat radical Islamic terrorists and that Graham also played a key role in the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
See the ad here:
Labor radio ad says Hillary Clinton “shameless” and does not respect Hispanics; TV ad to follow
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign blasted an ad in heavy rotation on Spanish language radio in Nevada which says that she is “shameless” and “does not respect Hispanics.”
“Every single sentence is a personal attack on Hillary Clinton,” said Maria Echaveste of the Clinton campaign, according to ABC News.
Echaveste called the ads “misleading” and “outrageous.” She was especially upset that the ad said Clinton did not respect Latinos. “That is just so far from the truth that it makes my mouth drop,” Echaveste said.
The ad was about an effort by a teachers’ union with ties to the Clinton campaign to prevent caucusing at special precincts in casinos. It implied that the effort was designed to keep workers from voting.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Nevada Democratic Party had the right to set its own rules for caucuses and allowed the casino precincts.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported Friday that UNITE HERE is planning a television ad as well although the content is not known. To read more, click here.
Huckabee signs “no amnesty” pledge
GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, seeking to show his commitment to strong border security, signed a “no amnesty” pledge Wednesday in Greenville, S.C.
The document, drafted by Numbers USA, a group that seeks lower levels of immigration, said: “I pledge to oppose amnesty or any other special path to citizenship for the millions of foreign nationals unlawfully present in the United States. As President, I will fully implement enforcement measures that, over time, will lead to the attrition of our illegal immigrant population. I also pledge to make security of our borders a top priority of my administration.”
Huckabee has taken a harder line on immigration since his days in Arkansas. While governor of that state, Huckabee supported a bill that would have provided tax-payer funded scholarships for illegal immigrant children.
After opponents said he was soft on immigration, Huckabee released a nine-point plan which calls for fencing the border and giving current illegal immigrants 120 days to register with the government and leave the country. Those who leave would face no penalty if they later applied to return.
Huckabee said Wednesday that his plan was “not an amnesty or a sanctuary city plan but a proper plan for the rule of law.” He also said: “We will secure our borders and build the fence within 18 months.”
Latina to keynote MLK Unity Breakfast
Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), will be the first Latina keynote speaker for Birmingham, Alabama’s largest Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event - the 22nd annual Unity Breakfast.
According to an NCLR press release, Murguia will urge members of the Hispanic and the African American communities to renew their commitment to realizing Dr. King’s dream of civil rights for all Americans.
“She will challenge the two communities to confront injustice, specifically the recent rise in hate speech in the media and in the presidential primaries surrounding the issue of immigration,” the release said.
The event will take place Monday morning.
Group launches “Lou Dobbs for president” site
A group called Americans for Legal Immigration PAC launched a Website Wednesday — www.LouDobbsforPresident.org — to collect signatures to draft CNN anchor Lou Dobbs for president because of his tough stance against illegal immigration.
The group, which seeks stronger immigration controls, said in a press release that 84 percent of its members would vote for Dobbs “if the GOP primary fails to yield a candidate opposed to amnesty.” They see four acceptable candidates: Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul.
“Lou Dobbs could run and win because he could easily raise the funds and grassroots support he needs to be a historic and viable candidate quickly. The public is eager to rebuke the D.C. status quo and would quickly rally to Dobbs,” said William Gheen, a spokesman for the group.
Dodd devotes many segments to illegal immigration, raising the ire of many Latino groups who say he is xenophobic and offensive.
Last year, a New York Times columnist accused Dobbs of presenting false information on his program and giving airtime to white supremacist sympathizers.
Times columnist David Leonhardt examined a claim on Dobbs show that U.S. cases of leprosy have spiked because of illegal immigration. On the program, Dr. Madeleine Cosman, identified as a medical lawyer, said there have been 7,000 cases in the past three years.
Leonhardt found there have been 7,000 cases in the past 30 years and that the peak year was 1983.
In addition, he said Cosman, who is now deceased, was not a doctor or a leprosy expert and gave speeches in which she said that Mexican immigrants had a habit of molesting children.
To read the column, click here.
Dobbs said the Leonhardt column was a “scurrilous personal attack” and that it had “the facts wrong.” He also said that he regretted using Cosman as a source.
Read Lou Dobbs response to the New York Times here.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC often highlights crimes committed by illegal immigrants on its Website as well as other immigration-related news.
Huckabee: stop immigration from countries that harbor terrorists
GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee called Tuesday for suspending immigration from countries that sponsor or harbor terrorists, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
On the campaign trail in South Carolina, Huckabee “sharpened his rhetoric on immigration and embraced a tougher measure than any of his rivals have so far,” the AP said.
“I say we ought to put a hiatus on people who come in here … if they come from countries that sponsor and harbor terrorists,” Huckabee told supporters, according to the story.
Huckabee also said: “Let’s say, until you get your act in order, and we get our act in order, we’re not going to just let you keep coming and threaten the future and safety of America…Every one of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came here legally. Our government welcomed them in.”
Huckabee has taken a harder line on immigration since his days in Arkansas. While governor of that state, Huckabee supported a bill that would have provided tax-payer funded scholarships for illegal immigrant children. During a state of the state speech in 2005, he also showed support for giving other financial aid to illegal immigration students.
After opponents said he was soft on immigration, Huckabee released a nine-point plan which calls for fencing the border and giving current illegal immigrants 120 days to register with the government and leave the country. Those who leave would face no penalty if they later applied to return. In a Dec. 9 interview, Huckabee suggested that the immigrants could come back fairly quickly.
To read the AP story, click here.
Feds to deport 200,000 immigrant criminals this year
Federal authorities expect to identify and deport more than 200,000 immigrants this year who are convicted criminals serving time in prisons and jails across the country, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The effort to speed the deportation of foreign-born criminals is part of a campaign by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to help federal and state prisons reduce the costs of housing immigrants, said Julie L. Myers, head of the agency, according to the story.
Myers said that in 2007, ICE brought formal immigration charges against 164,000 immigrants who are behind bars nationwide for crimes committed in this country. Many of those immigrants are still in the United States and are also slated for deportation this year.
To read more, click here.
Gilchrist tours Michigan for Huckabee
Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project citizen border watch group, is touring Michigan Wednesday and Thursday to shore up support for White House hopeful Mike Huckabee.
The “media tour” includes stops in Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Midland, and Traverse City, according to a press release.
The events come a day after Gilchrist said in a Washington Times story that Huckabee supports a Constitutional amendment to repeal birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.
Huckabee later said that the statement was not true and that he had “no intention” of supporting a Constitutional amendment to deny birthright citizenship.
Huckabee has taken a harder line on immigration since his days in Arkansas. While governor of that state, Huckabee supported a bill that would have provided tax-payer funded scholarships for illegal immigrant children. During a state of the state speech in 2005, he also showed support for giving other financial aid to illegal immigration students.
After opponents said he was soft on immigration, Huckabee released a nine-point plan which calls for fencing the border and giving current illegal immigrants 120 days to register with the government and leave the country. Those who leave would face no penalty if they later applied to return.
In a Dec. 9 interview, Huckabee suggested that the immigrants could come back fairly quickly. “It shouldn’t take years to get a work permit to come here and pick lettuce,” he said.
Other enforcement groups have denounced Gilchrist’s endorsement of Huckabee.
Chamber of Commerce: no large immigration bill, but hopeful on visa increases
Officials with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday that there is no chance for a major immigration re-haul bill in Congress this year, but that they hope to get increases in certain visa categories including the H-1B visa for highly educated foreign workers.
“We don’t expect comprehensive immigration reform in this session,” said Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs for the Chamber, at a briefing with reporters.
He also said that Congress would likely consider “to some degree” an increase in H-1B visas, H-2A visas for agricultural workers, and H-2B visas for non-agricultural seasonal workers such as hotel workers.
Tom Donohoe, president and CEO of the group, added: “I don’t believe we can go forward without figuring out how to get seasoned workers so that we can run the resorts and the hotels and get the crops out of the fields in California and out West … and also get enough specialty visas, H-1 and others to be sure we have the technical workers we need.”
Donohoe also said that the business coalition would fight against “inappropriate immigration statutes” during the upcoming year.
The number of H-1B visas allowed by law has fluctuated in recent years in response to the U.S. economy and the highs and lows of the technology industry and is now set by Congress at 65,000. In addition, 20,000 more foreign citizens with advanced degrees from American universities are allowed to stay in work in the United States.
Critic say that the H-1B program depresses wages for American workers and has many flaws including limited enforcement mechanisms.
Huckabee says no to birthright citizenship Constitutional amendment
The Washington Times reported today that former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a leading GOP presidential contender, supports a Constitutional amendment that would deny birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.
Not so, says the candidate.
“I do not support an amendment to the Constitution that would prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens. I have no intention of supporting a Constitutional amendment to deny birthright citizenship,” Huckabee said, in a press release, responding to the story.
The Times article attributed the information to James Gilchrist, founder of the Minutemen Project, who is supporting Huckabee’s nomination. The article said Gilcrest was Huckabee’s “top immigration surrogate.”
Read the Washington Times article here.
Huckabee has taken a harder line on immigration since his days in Arkansas. While governor of that state, Huckabee supported a bill that would have provided tax-payer funded scholarships for illegal immigrant children. During a state of the state speech in 2005, he also showed support for giving other financial aid to illegal immigrant students.
As a presidential candidate, Huckabee released a nine-point plan which calls for fencing the border and giving current illegal immigrants 120 days to register with the government and leave the country. Those who leave would face no penalty if they later applied to return.
More than one million Latinos apply for citizenship
More than 1 million Latinos applied to become U.S. citizens from January to October last year, nearly double the number of petitions filed in 2006, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).
The surge follows an aggressive campaign by the Univision television network and many Latino groups, including NALEO, to push eligible Latinos to apply for citizenship and vote in the 2008 election.
Experts say Latino voters can make a difference in potential battleground states, including Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.
In addition, they say that an increase in Hispanic voters would most likely benefit Democrats because Hispanics generally favor that party 2-to-1 over Republicans.
“Surpassing the goal of one million applications is a tremendous achievement,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund. “This is another example of the desire of the Latino community to become fully incorporated in the American political process.”
Organizers say the campaign, dubbed — “Ya Es Hora” or “It’s About Time” — is non-partisan.
Partners in the effort include the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion; the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the National Council of La Raza, an Hispanic civil rights organization; and more than 200 community groups.
SEIU executive vice president Eliseo Medina said the increase in applications for citizenship are a reaction to the current political climate surrounding the immigration issue.
“Just as immigrants of all stripes are increasingly under attack, this community is re-asserting its patriotism and its commitment to help strengthen the U.S. democracy,” he said, in a press release.
The increase in applications has caused a backlog at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
To read more about the citizenship campaign, click here.
In New Hampshire, Romney focuses on McCain’s immigration record
Campaigning in New Hampshire, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is focusing on Sen. John McCain’s immigration record.
According to Politico: “At every event, Romney pounds McCain for leading the congressional effort to provide illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. Romney said he will force all illegal immigrants out of the country but he refuses to detail precisely how and when.”
Romney also said that illegal immigrants who arrived very recently would be deported quickly, possibly in 90 days. Immigrants with families and deeper roots would go through a slower deportation process, Romney said, according to the article.
To read more, click here.
Mexicans fear Huckabee
A week ago, most Mexicans had never heard of Mike Huckabee. After the former Baptist minister’s victory in Iowa, many here now view Huckabee as a danger. Huckabee is generally seen as the most conservative of the Republican candidates and as such, the toughest on immigration (Mitt Romney might have something to say about that characterization).
Here’s how this morning’s Reforma newspaper analyzed Huckabee’s victory:
“The triumph of Mike Huckabee in the Iowa caucus is not good news for Mexico. It happens that the ex-governor of Arkansas … is winning supporters in great part through his plan to seal the border with Mexico with a wall and more Border Patrol. He also has the support of such “wonderful” people as James Gilchrist, founder of the anti-immigrant Minuteman movement and the actor Chuck Norris, who played the role of a violent Texas Ranger.”
In the Milenio newspaper, columnist Diego Petersen Farah writes, “Huckabee’s position on immigration is absolutely radical…Without a doubt, for Mexico and Latin America in general, Barack Obama would be a much more empathetic president, although not free of problems.”
Top issue for GOP Iowa caucus goers: immigration
According to a survey of Republican voters as they entered the Iowa caucuses, the issue that matters most to them is immigration.
Thirty-three percent of voters said that immigration was their top issue of concern. Twenty-six percent said the economy, 21 percent said terrorism and 17 percent said it was the war in Iraq.
However, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the GOP Iowa caucus despite concerns about his support for a bill that would have given scholarships to illegal immigrant students.
Among Democrats, immigration did not make the top tier of issues. The war in Iraq and the economy tied as the most important issue, each getting 35 percent. In addition, 27 percent of Democratic caucus goers said that health care was the most important issue.
To read more details about the survey of Iowa voters, click here.
Romney attacks McCain on immigration
Just days before the crucial New Hampshire primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney launched a television ad Thursday that attacks Sen. John McCain’s record on taxes and immigration.
In the ad, a New Hampshire resident says that McCain “supported amnesty for illegal immigrants, taking jobs away from Americans.”
McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told the Washington Post that the spot was “yet another false, negative and angry attack from Mitt Romney” and that Romney’s campaign is nervous “because they know that a leadership and stature gap exists between Mitt Romney and John McCain.”
Romney’s spokesperson Kevin Madden told the paper that the ad is “an accurate picture of New Hampshire Republicans talking about issues in their own words” and that McCain “has very troubling positions on issues like taxes and immigration.”
McCain sponsored an immigration package that would have enhanced border security, created a large temporary worker program, and offered many illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they met certain conditions such as passing a criminal background check.
The measure failed in the Senate last year and has cost McCain support from core conservatives.
