HispanicBusiness

Stung by election-year advertisements from both the Republican and Democratic parties that take swipes at immigrants, the president of the National Council of La Raza on Monday asked the parties to re-examine their tactics.

"Campaign ads on immigration from both parties are crossing the line. The issue of what to do about immigration is fair game for this election, demonizing an entire community is not," said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.

In one 30-second television ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the acceptance of "matricula consular" cards, the Mexican government-issued identification cards used by many undocumented aliens in the United States, is termed a threat to national security. The ad warns that people using the cards could get drivers licenses, enter government buildings or even board airplanes using the cards, which the ad implies represents some sort of threat to national order.

But the Republicans were not alone in stepping on toes.

A 35-second ad, since pulled after protests, from the Democratic Senatorial Committee also used an immigration theme to sound a warning about homeland security. While discussing illegal immigration, it mixed pictures of people climbing a border fence with images of Osama bin Laden and men carrying rocket launchers.

The Democratic group initially rejected criticism of the ad when it came from the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. "This group's time would be better spent pressuring reluctant Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform," DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said in an e-mailed statement, reported the Associated Press. But after other Hispanic groups, including NCLR, spoke up the ad was reformatted.

"This is the same kind of fear mongering we condemn in the extreme media and now we are seeing it at the DSCC," said NCLR spokeswomen Lisa Navarrete in mid-August. "It's appalling."

"While we appreciate that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee removed one ad from its Web site, we are asking for strong leadership from both parties at the national level to stop these types of ads and to start work on passing long-overdue comprehensive immigration reform. To the Latino community, it is time to stand up and be counted. And there is no better place to be heard if you are concerned about these tactics than at the ballot box this November," said Ms. Murguía.