The AFL-CIO has launched a blistering television ad campaign accusing U.S. Rep. Paul Broun and other House Republicans of standing in the way of comprehensive immigration legislation.
The $1 million-plus campaign includes ads running on YouTube and on the Univision and Telemundo networks in Atlanta. The ads are also airing in Bakersfield, Calif.; Denver; Orlando, Fla.; and the Washington metro area.
One of the ads cuts away from people reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to negative comments House Republicans have made about illegal immigrants. Broun is heard telling radio talk show host Laura Ingraham: “These illegal aliens are criminals, and we need to treat them as such.”
The ad finishes by calling for the passage of comprehensive immigration legislation and saying: “When you listen to what the Republicans say about immigrants, it makes you wonder if they believe in this country as much as we do.”
Broun’s office had no comment. Broun, who is running for the U.S. Senate, opposes offering illegal immigrants a route to citizenship. The ALF-CIO supports creating such a route, saying bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows could help protect the rights of all workers.
In June, the Democratic-led U.S. Senate passed bipartisan immigration legislation that would provide a 13-year pathway to citizenship for immigrants living illegally in the U.S. The measure, Senate Bill 744, would also tighten border security, crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants and overhaul the nation’s massively clogged legal immigration system.
The Republican-controlled House has refused to take up the Senate bill, dismissing it as “amnesty” legislation. House Republican leaders say they will instead take a piecemeal approach to overhauling the immigration system.
Broun has endorsed House Resolution 1417, also called the Border Security Results Act of 2013. Among other things, the bill establishes a goal of turning back or apprehending at least 90 percent of illegal border crossers within five years.
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