FIRST ON FOX: A conservative activist group is bracketing Thursday’s State of the Union with an ad slamming the Biden administration over the recent murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley in Georgia at the hands of an illegal immigrant.
Building America’s Future launched a $700,000 television ad buy with two ads blasting the Biden administration on immigration that will air in key markets in battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
“Laken Riley should have been able to go on a run,” the first ad, titled “Run”, states. “In broad daylight, without being murdered by an illegal immigrant, but Joe Biden promised not to deport illegal immigrants.”
The ad then shows a clip of Biden on a debate stage saying that illegal immigrants whose only crime is entering illegally should not be “the focus” of deportation.
Laken Riley and President Biden.
“Biden vowed not to detain illegal immigrants who cross the border” the ad continues, before showing another clip of Biden saying that migrants should not be detained while waiting for a hearing.
“So when Jose Ibarra crossed into America illegally, he was not deported,” the ad says, referring to Riley’s alleged killer who was illegally in the country from Venezuela after being released at the border in 2022.
Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother.
President Biden speaks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he visits the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. (JIM WATSON/AFP)
“He was not put in jail,” the ad says. “Biden also supported sanctuary cities.”
The ad then shows Biden saying “no” when asked if illegal immigrants arrested by police should be turned over to ICE.
“So when Jose Ibarra was arrested in New York City for endangering a child, the ad says. “He was freed a second time. Ibarra went to Georgia, where he beat Laken Riley to death. How many more killers has Biden set free?”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Building America’s Future will also run a second ad called “Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants” that focuses on the federal 340B program that the group says is vulnerable to being misused to ensure taxpayer-subsidized health care for illegal immigrants.
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President Biden salutes while arriving during an event in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The border is broken, millions illegally pouring into our country, but it’s not just the border, your tax dollars are at work for illegal immigrants,” the ad says. “The more we look, the more we find, our police are under assault, free credit cards for illegals and free health care? They’re using a program currently under investigation called 340b to launder your money and provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants.”
“The more we look the more we find. We need Republicans to stand up for us.”
The ad comes as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is facing pressure to reject signing a bill on his desk that would strengthen the 340B program which critics say would in turn subsidize illegal immigrant healthcare.
Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on Thursday night as poll after poll shows that illegal immigration is the top issue with voters across the country.
For the first time since Monmouth University began polling the issue in 2015, the majority of Americans now say they support a border wall.
According to the same poll, 61% of Americans say immigrants seeking political asylum at the border should be made to stay in Mexico while their claims are processed and 61% of voters say illegal immigration is a “very serious problem.”
Additionally, a recent Fox News poll showed that 71% of voters think Biden has mostly failed at “improving border security.”