Ad Contrasts Ronald Reagan’s Views With Republicans’ Words on Immigration

New York Times

By Maggie Haberman

September 13, 2015

Ad Contrasts Ronald Reagan’s Views With Republicans’ Words on Immigration 

Timed to this week’s Republican presidential debate, a pro-immigration group will run a television ad that juxtaposes Ronald Reagan’s upbeat tone in welcoming people to the United States against the words of the current party candidates.

The ad from the National Immigration Forum Action Fund will cost roughly three-quarters of a million dollars, according to a news release from the group. It will run primarily on CNN, which is hosting the presidential debate on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, but also on Fox News and MSNBC.

The ad’s cost demonstrates a renewed effort to show voters the language used by a number of the Republican presidential candidates, primarily Donald J. Trump, the leader in the polls, who has been criticized for his campaign announcement speech in which he suggested that Mexican immigrants coming across the border are “rapists.” And there is an effort to contrast the current field with Mr. Reagan, who is frequently invoked as the most revered figure among Republicans.

The ad features clips of Mr. Reagan referring to his view of the country as a “city on a hill.”

“I’ve spoken of a shining city all my political life,” Mr. Reagan says in an address from the Oval Office.

The ad then cuts to “today,” beginning with Mr. Trump’s remarks and then featuring Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas supporting an end to “birthright citizenship.” Mr. Trump is then quoted as saying he would build a “great, great” border wall.

It cuts back to Mr. Reagan, who says, “In my mind it was a tall proud city.” He adds later that if there were any walls to entry, there were doors that would be “open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it. And see it still.”

The National Immigration Forum runs the conservative coalition known as Bibles, Badges and Business.

Late last week, Steve Case, a co-founder of AOL, wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post urging business officials, many of whom have favored comprehensive immigration reform over the years, to denounce Mr. Trump.

The Latino Victory Project, which was co-founded by the Democratic National Committee finance chairman Henry Muñoz and the actress Eva Longoria, also is planning to air an ad criticizing the Republican presidential field.

Democrats believe their biggest advantage against the Republicans in 2016 is the demographics of an emerging electorate. Some Republican donors and leaders have worried about the tone of the conversation about immigration among its candidates.

But immigration reform is viewed skeptically by much of the Republican base.

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