Immigration Ads a Staple in Presidential Primary

WASHINGTON — One features the bloody victims of Central American gang violence. Another warns that 800,000 foreigners are crossing the border every year. And another denounces driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Immigration ads are permeating the airwaves in early primary states more than ever before and experts say they could be a harbinger of what to expect in the general election.

The first negative ad on the GOP side — released this week by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — was on Mike Huckabee's immigration record. The spot compares the two former governors on the issue, saying that Romney "stood up and vetoed a bill to give in-state tuition for illegal aliens" while Huckabee supported such a measure in Arkansas. It also says that Huckabee "even supported taxpayer-funded scholarships for illegal aliens."

While governor of Arkansas, Huckabee supported a bill that would have given illegal immigrant children a chance for a state scholarship and in-state tuition, but the measure never became law. Huckabee defended the measure at a recent GOP debate, saying it "would've allowed those children who had been in our schools their entire school life the opportunity to have the same scholarship that their peers had" and that "we're not going to punish a child because the parent committed a crime."

Two of the most controversial ads of the primary season — by long-shot Republican candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado — focused on immigration, his signature issue.

One spotlights Central American gangs such as MS-13 and shows bloody pictures of victims of gang violence. A voice-over says that the gangs are now on American soil "pushing drugs, raping kids, destroying lives" and blames the violence on "gutless politicians who refuse to defend our borders."

Tancredo also caused a stir last month with another ad that linked immigration to terrorism. It showed a hooded man blowing up a shopping mall and condemned "spineless politicians" who refuse to protect the borders.

Bill Benoit, a professor at the University of Missouri's Department of Communication who has studied political advertisements from the 1950s to the present, said the number of immigration ads this year is unprecedented.

Although the issue is playing out primarily in the GOP primary, Benoit said it could spill over to the general election, even if immigration is not voters' top concern.

"It's kind of hard to beat Iraq as an important issue, but I think there are enough people who are concerned about immigration, that it will probably come up in the general election," he said.

The main topics of immigration ads this year include driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, scholarships and in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students, and "sanctuary cities," where police and local officials do not to check the immigration status of residents using city services.

Romney has criticized rival Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, for supporting such a "sanctuary city" policy when he was mayor. Giuliani inherited — and staunchly defended — a policy from his predecessor Ed Koch that barred city agencies from sharing information with the federal government on the immigration status of residents who use city services unless there was evidence of a crime. Giuliani has argued that the policy was necessary to fight crime and ensure public health.

In a Romney radio ad, an announcer states, "Immigration laws don't work if they're ignored. ... That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt sanctuary policies. Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders."

A Giuliani radio ad, meanwhile, says that a person who comes to the United States illegally and commits a crime "should be thrown out." It also says that immigrants who become citizens should "read English, write English and speak English, because this is an English speaking country."

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who is also seeking the Republican nomination, also stresses border security in an ad that features him sitting at a counter in a diner.

"Giving up by granting amnesty is not the answer," he says.

John J. Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California, predicted that Republicans will keep stressing immigration during the nomination campaign but that they will take a more cautious stance in the general election.

"They know that it could backfire if they overdo it," he said. "Ads that seem nativist could turn off moderate voters and alienate the dwindling number of Latinos who still consider voting Republican."

Experts also said that immigration ads will probably appear in many House races across the country as Republicans try to take back control of the chamber.

The issue has already been a factor in a couple of special elections, including the victory this week of Ohio state Rep. Bob Latta for an open seat in the state's 5th District. An ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee said that Latta's opponent "supports a government-run health-care plan that covers illegal immigrants by raising taxes on your hard-earned dollars." Republican officials said Latta's tough stand on border security helped him win handily.

Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group, said he expects a record number of immigration-related ads this year in races across the country and that the harsh rhetoric will likely alienate Latino voters for years to come.

"House Republicans are going to run on it," he said. "It's going to be tested in a big way."

On the Web:

National Immigration Forum: immigrationforum.org