AFL-CIO Launches Ads Confronting GOP on Immigration

The AFL-CIO launched a hard-edged ad campaign Wednesday that targets House Republicans for failing to back an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

The ads, which include the tagline “Fight the Hate,” show clips of controversial comments from conservatives, such as Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks’ statement that he would do anything “short of shooting” undocumented workers to reduce the flow of illegal immigration.

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The ads signal a more aggressive approach by labor leaders on the immigration overhaul, which passed the Democratic-controlled Senate earlier this year but has gained little traction in the GOP-led House. {snip}

“The time for the acting on immigration reform is now,” Richard Trumka, the labor federation’s president, said during a conference call Wednesday. “The labor movement has decided to throw down in a big way to make it happen.”

The television commercials will run in Spanish in Bakersfield, Calif.; Denver; Atlanta; and Orlando, Fla.; and in English in the Washington market. He said the union would spend more than $1 million on the ads and did not rule out another round of advertising.

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“The Republican Party controls the immediate fate and future of immigration reform,” he said. “But Latino voters control the long-term fate and future of the Republican Party.”

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