Chicago Tribune article:


Oberweis ads rile immigrant groups
TV spots called racist, misleading

Special Report
By Liam Ford and Oscar Avila

A pair of controversial new campaign ads from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis has enraged immigrant rights advocates, who contend the message decrying illegal immigration is racist and relies on misleading data.

In the spots, which began running on television stations statewide this week, Oberweis warns that the nation is being overrun by illegal immigrants.

"Illegal aliens are coming here to take American workers' jobs, drive down wages and take advantage of government benefits such as free health care, and you pay," Oberweis says in one of the spots. "How many? Ten thousand illegal aliens a day. Enough to fill Soldier Field every single week."

Advocates for immigrant rights were swift to criticize the ads.

"It is men like this gentleman who continue to project the old Archie Bunker mentality. Those stats are prostituted and fabricated," said state Rep. William Delgado (D-Chicago). "They're very irresponsible."

Oberweis enraged the party's right wing with criticism of abortion-rights opponents when he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate two years ago. In his current campaign to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, he is determined to make his appeal to conservatives crystal clear. Key to his strategy has been his strong opposition to President Bush's plan to grant legal status to many undocumented workers now in the country.

Bill Kenyon, Oberweis' campaign director, said the ads speak to an issue that will resonate with not just Republicans but Democrats as well, especially in tough economic times when joblessness is high.

"There's about 8 million people looking for work in America, and there are about 8 million illegal immigrants," Kenyon said. "You do the math."

Both immigrant rights groups and some GOP leaders said Oberweis' strategy could be risky--though others in the Republican Party said it appeals to part of the conservative base Oberweis seeks to capture.

Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the state's largest immigrant advocacy organization, said he believes the immigration issue will not bring Oberweis a win.

"People here have a big heart, not a small mind," Hoyt said.

The television ads follow a radio campaign in which Oberweis criticized Bush's proposal. Oberweis' position has drawn national attention in recent days, winning him an appearance on CNN and prominent mention in a New York Times article on Republican candidates who disagree with Bush.

In the first TV ad, "10,000 reasons," Oberweis is seen standing in front of a time-lapse video of the Capitol in Washington.

"Think about this: From dawn till dusk, 10,000 more illegal aliens will come to America. And no one in Washington seems to notice, but 10,000 more American jobs will be risked," Oberweis says.

In the second ad, "This Big," the one featuring Soldier Field, Oberweis appears in a helicopter flying over downtown Chicago. As the helicopter nears the lakefront stadium, the label "Jim Oberweis, Conservative" appears at the top of the screen, and "Illegal Aliens: Taking Jobs" flashes at the bottom, followed by "Illegal Aliens: 10,000 per day."

Kenyon said Oberweis' position is not anti-immigrant, because "the first people who get hurt by this outpouring of illegal immigration are the people who are trying to immigrate here legally."

One of Oberweis' rivals in the March 16 primary, Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin), is "puzzled by a millionaire candidate who buzzes around in a corporate copter, peddling his ... fear-all-immigrants message," said Charlie Stone, a spokesman for Rauschenberger.

Businessman Andy McKenna Jr. and investment banker-turned-teacher Jack Ryan also are among the leading candidates in the Republican primary.

Whatever the ads' effect on the race, even the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which wants to limit immigration, said Oberweis' statistics appear inaccurate.

"Oh no, that's not possible," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the group, when told of Oberweis' claims.

Oberweis' campaign cited a 2002 Washington Times article, which reported that more than 10,000 illegal immigrants cross each day from Mexico into the United States, for a total of 3.65 million a year.

But Steven Camarota, research director at Krikorian's group, said the 10,000-a-day figure was only an extrapolation of the average of 3,300 illegal immigrants arrested each day as they crossed the border in 2001. Camarota said "very, very rough" estimates indicate only 1 out of 3 attempted illegal crossings are prevented by Border Patrol.

However, a January 2003 report by federal immigration officials estimated the total undocumented population in the United States at 7 million, and that 968,000 people illegally immigrated to the United States in 1999--only a quarter of the number Oberweis cites.

Though some Republican stalwarts believe Oberweis' attempts to capture votes with a strong position against illegal immigration will backfire, they said it is striking a chord with some conservative voters.

John McNeal, a former Republican state central committeeman, said Oberweis' radio ads have drawn many positive responses from callers on radio shows McNeal has been on recently.

Those who look askance at illegal immigration make up "a solid phalanx, and I think it crosses over to what used to be called the Reagan Democrats," McNeal said.

A recent Tribune poll by Market Shares Corp. raises questions about Oberweis' strategy.

The poll showed that about half of Illinois Republicans disapprove of the president's plan, but only 21 percent said they agreed with the statement that illegal immigrants hold "jobs Americans want."