An immigrant caravan far from the border but fear wins Tennessee

A week before polling day, immigration seems to be a hot spot in the Tennessee's tightly controlled Senate race, fueled in part by the high-profile caravan of Central American migrants heading north through Mexico to get to the US border.

Democrat Phil Bredesen on Tuesday released a new television ad to defend his border security record amid Republican attack on Marsha Blackburn, who seized the caravan to tout support for stronger deterrence against the country. Illegal immigration, including the construction of the border wall proposed by President Trump. after the cities called sanctuary.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Last week, Blackburn, a congressman composed of eight members (the term she prefers) of the suburbs of Nashville, which made immigration one of her central preoccupations in the election campaign, was one of the first Republican candidates in the country to take the caravan, which was about 1,500 miles from the US border. (The caravan is currently about 1,000 miles from the border but should make a detour to Mexico, adding time and distance It is still unclear which part of the United States the caravan will approach, but it is estimated that it is still "in a few weeks" "data-reactid =" 33 "> Last week, Blackburn, a congressional member of eight terms (the term she prefers) from the suburbs of Nashville, has made immigration one of her main problems in campaign, was one of the first Republican candidates in the country to express on the caravan, which was then about 1500 kilometers from the US border (the caravan is currently about 1000 kilometers from the border, but should make a detour through Mexico, adding time and it is still unclear to which part of the United States the caravan will approach, but it is estimated that it is unlikely still "in a few weeks" to reach the border.)

Echoing the alarmist language that Trump used about the caravan, Blackburn described the group as an "illegal extraterrestrial crowd". Citing the Department of Homeland Security, she said the caravan included "gang members, criminal history people and people from the Middle East." (DHS did not provide any elements evidence to support this assertion, telling Axios that he was "sensitive to maintaining order."

"There is a good and bad way to come to the United States, and that's a bad way," Blackburn said in an interview with Fox News. "You do not come as a force of invasion, and that's what we see with this caravan. People who need asylum have the opportunity to seek asylum, but coming as a force of invasion is not the way people should come. to this country. "

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Bredesen, former governor and mayor of Nashville who campaigned as a centrist in the race and did not make immigration a central issue in his Senate candidacy, told WCYB-TV in Bristol , Tennessee, that he did not believe that the caravan was a security risk.

"We are the strongest country in the world and a few thousand very poor people going to our border do not pose a threat to our security," Bredesen told the chain.

The Blackburn campaign immediately grabbed Bredesen's comment on the caravan and broadcast it on social media, suggesting that he wants to "roll out the welcome mat for them". The congressman also drew attention to the other comments of the former governor on immigration, including his suggestion. final debate earlier this month that Trump's proposed boundary wall was simply "political theater."

Bredesen argued that the estimated $ 70 billion to cover the costs of the wall would be better spent on other deterrents, such as drones and other high-tech security measures.

But Blackburn insisted, "The walls work." When asked how the country would pay for it, she dodged the question, but claimed that a wall was what voters in Tennessee want.

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In recent weeks, Blackburn has attacked Bredesen, accusing him of making it easier to get a driver's license from illegal immigrants in Tennessee – a bill that was passed by his predecessor as that governor, Don Sundquist, who endorsed Blackburn.

On Monday, the same day, the Pentagon had announced the deployment of some 5,000 soldiers at the border, as part of a show of force that targeted mid-term voters more than illegal terrorists. Bredesen has published an editorial in The Tennessean calling for colder heads to go. "When that happens, the potential for chaos is high," he wrote. "We must handle this properly and not allow it to become an opportunity for politicians on both sides to inflame passions and sow discord among Americans. This is the opportunity for everyone to act like adults. "

The back and forth comes as polls suggest that the race is at a standstill. Two weeks ago, polls revealed that Blackburn had taken a double-digit lead in the days following the Senate vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh's mandate in the Supreme Court. While Blackburn and Bredesen both declared support for Kavanaugh's candidacy, Bredesen waited until the day of the vote to announce his position, which, according to Blackburn, showed that he was testing the political wind.

But a Vanderbilt University survey of likely voters in Tennessee released last week revealed Bredesen was 1 point ahead, which is a tie.

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "A Reuters / Ipsos / UVA Survey Center for Politics Made public on Oct. 17, only 11 percent of likely voters in Tennessee said that immigration was the single most important issue facing the country. It ranked third behind other issues, including health care and "morality". And only 9% said it was the # 1 factor in their vote. Nevertheless, 46% of likely voters surveyed said they preferred Blackburn's approach to immigration, compared to 34% for Bredesen. Twelve percent of respondents said they did not know and 8% said no. "Data-reactid =" 80 "> A Reuters / Ipsos / UVA Survey Center for Politics Made public on Oct. 17, only 11 percent of likely voters in Tennessee said that immigration was the single most important issue facing the country. It ranked third behind other issues, including health care and "morality". And only 9% said it was the # 1 factor in their vote. Nevertheless, 46% of likely voters surveyed said they preferred Blackburn's approach to immigration, compared to 34% for Bredesen. Twelve percent of respondents said they did not know and 8% said "no more".

Sign of the growing importance of this issue in the race, the Bredesen campaign on Tuesday released a new TV ad extolling its immigration background as governor.

"The action has more weight than the words." In 2006, when the president said he needed help to secure the border, Tennessee's governor, Phil Bredesen, said: He did not wait to be interviewed, and he played no political role, "says the ad.

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Learn more about the Yahoo News middle coverage:"data-reactid =" 84 ">Learn more about the Yahoo News middle coverage: