Democratic candidates step up immigration messaging in campaign's final weeks

By Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic congressional candidates have shifted their pitch on immigration in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, promising more action to boost border security as they seek to make up ground on an issue where voters favor Republicans.

They are talking about it far more in campaign TV ads over the past seven weeks, when almost 15% of pro-Democratic messages have addressed immigration or border security, up sharply from the 3% share they represented in the final weeks of the 2022 midterm campaign, according to new data released on Thursday by the Wesleyan Media Project, a university cohort that analyzes political TV ads.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed this week showed that 65% of registered voters believe the U.S. is on the wrong track on immigration policy, with voters favoring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's hardline approach to the issue over Democratic rival Kamala Harris' by 48% to 35%.

Rhetoric from Democrats is now zeroing in on border security rather than primarily promoting pathways to citizenship as in the past, while Republicans lay responsibility for an increase in illegal immigration at Democrats' feet.

Representative Tom Suozzi -- a Democrat who successfully campaigned on immigration in his February special election for the New York seat vacated by George Santos' resignation -- said addressing the issue head on is critical for Democratic candidates.

"I will talk to anybody that will listen for the need for us to embrace the issue of securing the border," Suozzi said in an interview. Effective candidates, he said, need to address "what the people are concerned about."

Still, Democratic advertising on immigration trails that of Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, with the issue representing about 41% of overall Republican ad volume nationwide, the data shows.

The increase reflects the nationalization of congressional races, said Bowdoin College professor Mike Franz, the co-director of the media project.

"Even though immigration may not seem as salient and directly relevant to the lives of some voters in these congressional districts, the issue is resonating because the topic has become tied to both parties' brands," Franz said.

Republicans blame the Biden administration — and Democrats — for relaxing immigration laws and a historically high number of illegal U.S. southern border crossings last December, with as many as 250,000 people apprehended by U.S. border authorities.

This number was down to roughly 54,000 migrants in September, after the Biden administration put in tougher asylum restrictions in June.

Democratic campaigns now pledge support for more border agents, increased drug screenings and even support building more border wall -- and fault Trump for quashing a bipartisan border bill negotiated in the Senate earlier this year.

This is a shift in emphasis for Democrats who previously focused their election messaging on immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship, said Zachary Mueller, senior research director of the immigration advocacy organization, America's Voice.

It’s not all offense for the Democrats.

After the Congressional Leadership Fund — a conservative PAC — accused several Democrats of downplaying immigration issues, Democratic incumbent Susan Wild in Pennsylvania and Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel in Arizona both cut full rebuttal ads, promising to “crack down” on illegal immigration and “solve the border crisis.”

Meanwhile, some Democrats - like challenger Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania - are blaming their own party. “Crisis on the border--too many Democrats deny it,” the former news anchorwoman declares in a September TV ad, pledging to “kick out” migrants in the U.S. illegally.

Some immigration advocates are unhappy about the change.

“The Democrats are now repeating the same talking points that Republicans were saying four years ago” on the border, said Michelle Serreno, co-director of Texas-based migration advocacy organization, Voces Unidas, who says she is an independent.

"This fear-based campaign tactic is on the stage that Republicans have set, and the Democrats have accepted it.”

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 18)

(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)