WASHINGTON _ Nevada Democrats are trying to link GOP Senate nominee Joe Heck and Donald Trump over the issue of birthright citizenship, using new direct mail advertisements to suggest both men want to deport the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.
The mail ads, obtained by Roll Call, also criticize Heck for supporting the Republican Party's presidential nominee. Trump has alienated many Latino voters with racially provocative rhetoric and a plan to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico.
Trump's deep unpopularity with Hispanics is a sensitive issue for Heck, a three-term congressman who must win over a sizable chunk of them to win on Election Day. The attempt to link Trump and Heck also alarms GOP strategists in Washington, who consider Nevada the party's only plausible opportunity to pickup a Senate seat in November.
Heck faces Democratic nominee Catherine Cortez Masto.
One mail ad features a picture of a toddler holding a miniature American flag, against the backdrop of a larger American flag, with the words "Born in the USA" streamed across the top.
Another points to Heck's support of Trump.
And a third warns that "Donald Trump and Congressman Joe Heck would deny American-born children their right to citizenship if their parents are undocumented."
