Enforcement-Only Immigration Politics Failed to Pay Off

Published December 16, 2008 @ 05:44AM PT

America's Voice has an easily-digestible report about how immigration media strategies fared in the recent elections, and even has collected some of the more ridiculous restrictionist ads for people to vote for a favorite.

(Though I think to vote you have to add yourself to AV's mailing list--in fairness, we do something similar on this site.)

I voted for this Liddy Dole ad.

Here are some excerpts from the report.

Despite spending significantly on immigration ads, most candidates airing them lost. Of the 218 ads aired by Republicans or Democrats in races that have been decided, only 69, or 32%, favored a winning candidate. GOP candidates, party committees, and outside group allies sponsored 78% of the immigration-related ads in races that have been decided. Only 17% of these ads were placed by winning GOP candidates and their allies.

. . .

Our review of immigration ads in the 2008 cycle shows that the illegal immigration wedge strategy-where mainly Republican candidates ran attack ads against Democrats-was a loser. Republican candidates and parties ran 85% of the harshest immigration ads ("5") in decided races. Only 21% of these ads were placed by winning GOP candidates and their allies. For example, in the North Carolina Senate race between incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) and Kay Hagan (D, Dole went on the attack against Hagan in a series of immigration ads, but still lost. The same was true in the NM-2 House race, where Ed Tinsley (R) also targeted Harry Teague (D) with harsh immigration ads.

Note that whether hardline immigration rhetoric led in part to the widespread rejection of GOP candidates, or whether it's just that enforcement-only policies are inextricably linked to the party widely rejected by voters, prospects are not good for immigration restrictionists.

(Via ImmigrationProf Blog)

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David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.