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MICHIGAN SENATE RACE CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION
For more than a month now, advocates on both sides of the immigration debate have been focusing on the race for the US Senate seat in Michigan pitting Republican Senator Spencer Abraham against Democratic House member Debbie Stabenow.  Abraham, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants, is well known for his advocacy on certain immigration issues, particularly H-1B visas and the repeal of section 110, which mandated a strictly controlled entry-exit system. 
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates substantial decreases in immigration, has been active in the campaign since the beginning, and has run many ads attacking Abraham for putting American’s jobs at risk.  Recently the group ran a newspaper ad featuring suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden with text asking why Abraham is "trying to make it easier for terrorists like Osama bin Laden to export their way of terror to any street in America?" 
While some may have shared the sentiment behind the ad, many were outraged by it, including the Michigan Catholic Conference, a group that speaks for the Catholic Church in Michigan on social issues.  The Conference has asked TV stations around that state to stop running ads sponsored by FAIR, and at least one, a FOX network affiliate in Detroit, has agreed to do so. 
This campaign and the role of advocacy groups in it are attracting attention not only from those with an interest in immigration.  Many political observers view the ads as part of a larger trend toward issue advertising – which allows groups to run essentially any ad they want, so long as they do not explicitly endorse a candidate.  The Michigan Senate race is not the only one in which FAIR advertisements have been seen.  During the presidential primary season, FAIR ads ran in Iowa and South Carolina, two important states in the process. 
The executive director of FAIR, Dan Stein, claims his group is only interested in informing the electorate about an important issue.  Many, however, disagree with this characterization, and claim that FAIR has done everything but tell people to not vote for Abraham.  According to Abraham’s campaign manager, Joe McMonigle, the group’s "goal is to defeat Abraham and show his colleagues what they can do.” 
Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate have been asking business groups for financial assistance to run ads supporting Abraham.  They stress that these requests are in no way linked to action on proposed legislation that would increase visas available to high-tech workers. 
One group that has been active in the campaign is American Business for Legal Immigration, a group representing many business interests.  A group called Americans for Job Security has also been actively supporting the pro-immigration side of the debate.