Group with Speaker Ties Launches $1.8 Million Ad Campaign at the Border

An advocacy group with ties to House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to start a $1.8 million advertising campaign nationwide this week. The goal is to urge members of Congress to fight for stricter measures on border security.

The ad buy, which will be launched Friday in 16 congressional districts, has been placed by the nonprofit American Action Network, a sister group of the Congressional Leadership Fund aligned with Johnson, R-La., according to the Washington Examiner.

The ads will advocate the policies that were included in H.R. 2, which reinstates former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, resumes construction on the border wall, and ends the catch-and-release practice.

The spots will run in districts that include those of GOP Reps. Juan Ciscomani, Arizona; David Valadao, California; and Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania.

The push is coming as illegal border crossings are reaching record numbers including in December, when more than 302,000 migrants had been documented trying to enter the United States.

“This morning, record numbers at the southern border. This isn’t sustainable” one of the ads says. “Everybody is overwhelmed … every state in America is now a border state, national emergency; conservatives are taking action.”

The advertisement urges constituents to contact their representatives to tell them to “keep fighting for America.”

Johnson is also drawing a hard line on border security, including on Sunday, when he told his conference during a call for members only that any immigration compromise reached by Senate negotiators would be dead upon arrival in the House.