On Univision, Flavia Jiménez Slams The Debunked Claims In A Nativist T.V. Ad As A Racist “Attack Against The Latino Community”

Written by Media Matters Staff

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On Univision's Edición Nocturna, Juan Carlos Aguiar highlighted Flavia Jiménez of the civil rights organization Advancement Project who explained that the 30-second anti-immigrant ad from the nativist organization Californians For Population Stabilization (CAPS) that aired during CNN's first Democratic presidential debate is a “racial and ethnic attack against the Latino community.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), CAPS belongs to a network that includes several organizations that have been labeled as “hate groups.” The ad's claim that immigrants are to blame for California's drought-induced water storage have been thoroughly debunked in the media and by by climatology experts. From the October 15 edition of Univision Noticias' Edición Nocturna:

ILIA CALDERÓN: A known organization classified as anti-immigrant aired an ad during the Democratic debate last Tuesday that has stemmed repudiation on behalf of immigrant-rights advocates. The images and verbal content of the 30-second ad have garnered criticism. Juan Carlos Aguiar contacted both sides and tells us what they had to say.

FLAVIA JIMÉNEZ: It is a racial and ethnic attack against the Latino community.

JUAN CARLOS AGUIAR: Is the reaction an ad aired by an organization considered anti-immigrant during the recent Democratic debate. In it, a boy asks: “if Californians are having fewer children, why is it so crowded?” “if Californians are having fewer children, why are there so many cars?” Even asking: “where is all the people coming from?”.

JIMÉNEZ: It is one of the most revolting things I've ever seen. Using a child...

AGUIAR: Flavia Jiménez, from Advancement Projects, an organization headquartered in Washington, while repudiating the commercial, says it's not illegal. However, she believes that Hispanics have only one path.

JIMÉNEZ: Mobilize. Vote if we can, become citizens and present solutions.

AGUIAR: The organization responsible for the ad, through a release, also rejected that they are called racists:
“Immigration and immigration limits are too important to have people who defend it treat them as racism.”

AGUIAR: In the end, the 30-second spot calls for reducing immigration for California's future. For many activists, defenders of immigrants, this is part of the polarization that is being felt in many parts of the country for several weeks. More than that, they relate it to discourses considered as instigating division and that have been presented by the campaigns of some presidential candidates. Enrique, back to you.

ENRIQUE ACEVEDO: Thank you, Juan Carlos Aguiar.