--- title: New Ad Uses Ronald Reagan to Attack Trump on Immigration description: A conservative group's Fourth of July ad uses former President Ronald Reagan to repudiate President Trump's immigration policies. canonical: https://time.com/5329179/reagan-trump-immigration-ad/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-03T15:00:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:33:06.072Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Conservative Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Attack President Trump's Immigration Policies og:description: 'The Republican party is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan og:url: https://time.com/5329179/reagan-trump-immigration-ad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c1d120333342584/6989347f929fad302fbf0fc2/reagan-trump-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Reagan Trump Immigration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Conservative Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Attack President Trump's Immigration Policies twitter:description: 'The Republican party is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c1d120333342584/6989347f929fad302fbf0fc2/reagan-trump-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Conservative Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Attack President Trump's Immigration Policies > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=48491740-dede-4bf8-877f-615544d73100&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Conservative Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Attack President Trump’s Immigration Policies [Watch (HLS stream): A Conservative Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Attack President Trump’s Immigration Policies](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8dxo4jiB.m3u8) (0:30)  _Published 2018-07-03. A Right-Leaning Group Is Using Ronald Reagan to Subtly Attack President Trump's Anti-Immigration Policies_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jul 3, 2018 3:00 PM UTC  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jul 3, 2018 3:00 PM UTC A conservative group is running a Fourth of July ad using footage of former [President Ronald Reagan](http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/15965/declassified-document-shows-reagan-had-the-nsa-monitor-vietnam-for-details-on-pow-mias) to repudiate President Donald Trump’s [immigration policies.](http://time.com/5327641/students-immigration-law-donald-trump/) The ad, paid for by the Becoming American Initiative, uses audio of a Reagan speech in which he praised immigrants and their contributions to American society, along with footage and photographs of the Statue of Liberty and various immigrants through the years. “They didn’t ask what this country could do for them, but what they could do to make this refuge the greatest home of freedom in history,” Reagan says in the footage. “They brought with them courage and the values of family, work and freedom. Let us pledge to each other that we can make America Great Again.” > [](https://twitter.com/becomeamerican/status/1014121913860415493) The Becoming American Initiative is a pro-immigration conservative group recently founded as a 501c-4 organization, which means it is allowed to engage in political advocacy, but does not have to disclose its donors. “The point is that the Republican Party is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan. If it were, it would not be pursuing the anti-immigrant policy that President Trump is pursuing,” said Linda Chavez, the group’s director, who also served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Reagan administration. “As someone who worked in the Reagan White House and was part of the Reagan administration, it is disheartening to see President Trump using immigration as a wedge issue and trying to act as if immigrants are somehow bad for America, when in my view immigrants are what make America great.” A representative for the group said the initial ad buy was $25,000\. It initially launched on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and will run Wednesday on Fox News’ _Fox and Friends_ and MSNBC’s _Morning Joe._ ## Transcript Through this golden door has come millions of men and women. These families came here to work. Other came to America in often harrowing conditions. They didn't ask what this country could do for them, but what they could do to make this refuge the greatest home of freedom in history. History. They brought with them courage and the values of family, work and freedom. Let us pledge to each other that we can make America great again. 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