Earlier this year, while running TV ads during the presidential primaries, the federation put the spotlight on areas in Iowa and South Carolina, attributing problems in those communities to immigration. For 20 years, the federation has been a nonprofit bullhorn for 80,000 members nationwide decrying the influx of immigrants. It was a force behind Proposition 187 in California, a 1994 voter-approved initiative denying some public benefits to undocumented immigrants. Key parts of the measure later were ruled unconstitutional in federal courts. The federation seeks a temporary moratorium on all immigration except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens, as well as a limited number of refugees.
Sources say it is spending at least twice that much on the current media campaign.
In its recent series of ads, the federation accused Abraham of buying visas in exchange for votes and of stealing American jobs. In the past, FAIR has displayed ads that showed an image of Abraham standing next to alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden. Not so, Stein said. Stein denied saying it, but later said the matter is unimportant. He's not a nice guy.