12 JULY 2024

NEW: AdImpact Data Shows Massive GOP Ad Spending on Immigration in Second Quarter of 2024

With only 18% of total television broadcast ad spending on immigration this quarter, Democrats must invest aggressively in an offensive strategy to reach voters

See April, May, June, and Q2 2024 spending reports.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Republican National Committee (RNC) releases a new party platform that formalizes mass deportations and a militarized border as top priorities, new data from AdImpact confirms that right-wing candidates, PACs, and other political groups were responsible for 82% ($40,875,517) of all immigration-related television broadcast advertisement dollars ($49,771,563) in the second quarter of 2024. Republicans and right-wing groups nearly doubled their Q1 spending, topping $80,366,054 on 548 immigration-related ads since the start of 2024.

The right-wing ads, which deploy buzzwords like “border,” “crime,” “wall,” and “fentanyl,” account for 196 out of 213 ads, or 92% of the immigration-related ads that aired on television in the second quarter of 2024. The report shows Democratic spending on the issue for this quarter was $8,896,046 on 17 TV advertisements, up from $718,483 in Q1.

Following last month’s largely popular executive orders addressing the border and providing pathways to citizenship for long-settled immigrants, the data underscores an opportunity for the Biden-Harris campaign and Democrats to go on offense and invest in an ad campaign that socializes their pivotal accomplishments with voters and counters extremist GOP rhetoric on the issue.

“No matter how much Trump and right-wing candidates try to distance themselves from Project 2025, the money trail doesn’t lie,” said Immigration Hub Deputy Director Beatriz Lopez. “Their ads are sending a divisive message to voters that immigrants and newcomers in America are at threat by virtue of the color of their skin. With false claims of terrorism, crime and drugs, the ads are promising Trump’s vision for an unrecognizable immigration system centered on mass deportation, bans, and family separation. It’s everything Trump is promising and everything Project 2025’s authors have sketched into a blueprint. Now more than ever, it’s critical Democrats respond with equal fire and funds. With a majority of Americans in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s recent actions to address the border and keep American families together, Democrats have the right message to go on offense and pick up voters in the margins.”

Snapshot of 2024 Q2 Spending on Immigration TV Ads (AZ, FL, GA, MI, NC, NV, PA, OH, TX, VA, WI):

  • The 196 right-wing ads aired over 92,000 times in critical battleground states and were viewed over 1.6 billion times.

  • The top buzzwords employed in the ads were “border” (181 mentions),  “crime” (58 mentions), “wall” (18 mentions), and “fentanyl” (11 mentions).

  • Democrats’ 17 ads aired 20,776 times and garnered over 296 million views. 

  • The states with the highest share of immigration ads across party lines were Virginia (31 ads, 39%), Montana (33 ads, 31%), and Texas (49 ads, 29%).

  • In Arizona and Nevada, where immigration is a top issue for voters, Republican candidates and right-wing groups spent $2,170,635 (AZ) and $2,441,748 (NV), while Democrats have spent $142,845 (AZ) and $1,048,332 (NV).

See April, May, June, and Q2 2024 spending reports.

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.