Pro-Legal Immigration Ads Put Positive Light on Doing Things 'by the Book'
by Chad Groening
May 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Mainstream media has dishonestly portrayed the issue of illegal immigration, says a pro-family citizens group. That's why the group has launched a radio campaign designed to counter that misperception.Colin Hanna is president of WeNeedaFence.com, which is a project of the Pennsylvania-based group Let Freedom Ring. The group has proposed a fence design integrating barbed wire, ditches, 12- to 15-foot high fences on either side of a patrol road, surveillance cameras, and buried motion detectors. (See design here) And the group argues that a secure, state-of-the-art border fence must be one element of a comprehensive effort to address the problem of illegal immigration into the U.S.
But one of the problems, says Hanna, is that the mainstream media has ignored the distinction between illegal and legal immigrants in its coverage of the recent pro-immigration protests around the country. So Hanna says Let Freedom Ring has produced a series of radio ads focusing on legal immigrants who have played by the rules.
"We began a radio campaign that focuses very positively on the accomplishments and the patriotism of several specific [examples] -- real-life cases with real names -- of legal immigrants and how proud they are to be Americans," Hanna explains. "That's the kind of message I think we ought to be sending." The organizers of the recent demonstrations, he suggests, "were sending just the opposite [message]."
And the purpose of the ad campaign? "It has a lot to do with countering the claims and charges of those on the left who like to paint anyone who is in favor of border security as being somehow anti-immigrant or anti-Hispanic or some other form of racist -- and that's simply not the case," says Hanna. "I thought it was worthwhile doing a positive campaign for those who have come here, made a contribution, bought into the American dream, [and have] become American citizens."
Legal immigrants, says Hanna, are an asset to be celebrated. The five public service announcements feature the real-life stories of actual legal immigrants who abided by the law, immigrated to the United States legally, became successful members of American society, and love their adopted country, he explains.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
