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SEIU Launches Immigration Ad Buy

Labor Group Makes Big Ad Buy For Immigration Reform
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Copy Chief, HuffPost

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The Service Employees International Union made a seven-figure ad buy on Tuesday in support of comprehensive immigration reform, touting it from the perspective of law enforcement, business owners, veterans, Republicans and immigrants themselves.

"Our immigration system is broken," a woman says in one of the ads, which will air on national cable TV, after identifying herself as a Republican. "It doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat, it matters that you are an American," she adds later.

The SEIU has long been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A bill in the Senate that fits that requirement will go for its first vote on Tuesday, with many senators still undecided as to whether they will support its final passage.

SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry will be present later in the morning when President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House in support of immigration reform. In a statement, she said the new ads are meant to highlight broad-based support for the issue.

"We're seeing a growing consensus across the country that we need to get immigration reform done and get it done now," she said. "These ads show the breadth of support for commonsense immigration reform and highlight the diverse voices that are integral to moving this debate forward."

Other organizations have also launched major ad buys in support of reform. Crossroads GPS, a conservative group backed by Karl Rove, announced Monday it will spend $100,000 on print and online advertising.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also released ads this week on immigration, going after Republican House members who voted last week to defund an Obama administration program that helps undocumented young people. The DCCC ads target Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), John Kline (R-Minn.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

The ads will air in Spanish and urge constituents to call their representative to "demand that he stand with our young people and not with most extreme members of his party."

Watch all of the SEIU ads here, or the one titled "Now" below.

This story has been updated to include the DCCC ads released this week.

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Before You Go

11 Ways Immigration Reform Helps The Economy
Reform Would Help Curb The Deficit(01 of11)
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Immigration reform would reduce the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to an April analysis by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. (credit:Getty Images)
Expelling Immigrants Is Expensive(02 of11)
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Expelling the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States would cost $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to CNBC. That's because it costs the government more than $8,000 to deport each person. (credit:Getty Images)
Reform Would Help Fix The Social Security Problem(03 of11)
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Immigration reform would help bolster Social Security because more legal workers would mean more people contributing payroll taxes to its trust fund, according to an analysis from the Social Security administration. Undocumented workers already contribute $15 billion per year to Social Security. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Start Successful Businesses(04 of11)
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More than a quarter of technology and engineering firms started between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born owner, according to the Washington Post. One of the founders of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang, is an immigrant from Taiwan. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Save $410 Billion Over The Next 10 Years(05 of11)
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The immigration reform bill proposed by the "gang of eight" senators would save $410 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis from Gordon Gray, the director of fiscal policy at the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. The savings would come largely from a boost in GDP resulting from undocumented immigrants gaining citizenship and in turn likely making more money. (credit:AP)
High-Tech Companies Say Reform Would Boost Their Bottom Line(06 of11)
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Companies like Microsoft and Google have said that immigration reform would help them by allowing for more H1B visas, a special kind of visa geared toward highly-skilled immigrants. The tech giants say they can't find enough qualified people in the U.S. to fill their staffing needs. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost The Wages Of Native-Born Workers(07 of11)
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U.S.-born workers see between a 0.1 and 0.6 percent boost in wages on average with an increase in immigration, according to a January report from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative of the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. That's because immigrant workers bring skills with them that complement those of native-born workers, leading to new jobs. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Are Entrepreneurial (08 of11)
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Immigrants are more than twice as likely than native-born Americans to start new businesses, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost GDP By More Than $1 Trillion Over 10 Years(09 of11)
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Immigration reform would boost GDP by $1.5 trillion -- or about 1 percent -- over 10 years, according to an estimate from UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda cited by CNBC. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Create Jobs(10 of11)
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Businesses owned by immigrants created 4.7 million jobs in the U.S. in 2007, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Bring In More Money Than It Costs In Benefits(11 of11)
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Though many critics of immigration reform argue against the cost of providing increased public benefits, analysts say higher spending is not a likely consequence. A Congressional Budget Analysis of George W. Bush's 2007 immigration reform proposal found that it would cost the government $23 billion in more public services, but bring in $48 billion in revenue, according to the Washington Post. (credit:Getty Images)
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