CNN
By Bryan Koenig
November 7, 2013
(CNN) - A new union-backed ad buy will look to drum up support for passing comprehensive immigration reform in the House of Representatives by targeting vulnerable chamber Republicans, according to a statement.
The Service Employees International Union said Thursday they are spending more than $500,000 on attack ads targeting seven House Republicans who face tough re-elections next year, and House Speaker John Boehner. SEIU has already spent more than $2.5 million promoting immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship, the group said.
According to the statement, the 30 seconds ads will target Boehner in the Washington, D.C. market while going after Reps. Gary Miller of California, Joe Heck of Nevada, Mike Coffman of Colorado, Rodney Davis of Illinois, David Joyce of Ohio, John Kline of Minnesota and Michael Grimm of New York in their home districts.
Among the candidates, Grimm is particularly vulnerable. The Staten Island Republican is the only GOP representative for heavily liberal-leaning New York City.
The ad buy marks the second Thursday to name Heck, albeit the other ad is from the conservative Americans for Prosperity, praising his opposition to Obamacare.
For Heck and the other representatives, the message is clear, SEIU Executive Vice President Rocio Saenz said in the statement.
"Enough talk – it is time for action. If Republican members support commonsense immigration reform, they must tell Speaker Boehner that that time is now to bring a bill to the floor for a vote that includes a pathway to citizenship," Saenz said.
The ads are all but identical to each other, changing only the names of the Republican in question. The one attacking Boehner is the only one even remotely different, albeit only slightly.
"The Senate passed bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform months ago," the announcer says, but there has been no movement by "House Republicans to fix our broken immigration system."
Obama puts immigration back in spotlight
Immigration has virtually stalled since the Senate passed a bill in June that Republicans have refused to take up. Boehner has instead said he prefers a series of piecemeal immigration bills rather than one large bill.
There has been limited progress in recent weeks however, with most House Democrats and a handful of House Republicans saying they're in favor of comprehensive reform.
GOP Rep: Many House Republicans will sign onto immigration bill
The most prevalent conflict in the House is over the 13-year pathway to citizenship for some of the country's estimated 11 million undocumented migrants, a pathway passed in the Senate legislation that many Republicans blast as amnesty for lawbreakers.
Also at issue, the Senate bill has no provisions requiring that the U.S. border be certified as secure before the pathway to citizenship can commence, although the Senate version did vastly expand the border patrol.
A large majority of Americans have consistently said they support immigration reform. In the most recent poll, from CBS last month, more than three-quarters of Americans supported an eventual pathway for the vast majority of undocumented immigrants. But the survey also indicated a slight majority of Americans said securing the border was a higher priority than citizenship.
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