$250,000 TV Ad Campaign Features Grieving Dad Denouncing ‘Sanctuary Cities

Rick Griffin
June 19, 2017
Times of San Diego

A $250,000 TV advertising campaign airing on 10 stations in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco is focusing on California deaths committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

The ads, featuring grieving dad Don Rosenberg asking President Trump to withhold federal funds from “sanctuary cities,” are in response to Governor Brown’s expected approval of legislation making California a sanctuary state.

The ad campaign is from Californians for Population Stabilization, a Santa Barbara-based organization founded in 1986. The organization says it favors legal immigration and but is against sanctuary city policies that help undocumented immigrants.

In one ad, Don Rosenberg is seen with a photo of Gov. Brown. “Imagine if Drew had been his son,” Rosenberg says. The title for the ad campaign is “Imagine.”

On Nov. 16, 2010, Drew Rosenberg was killed in a car accident by Roberto Galo who had entered the country illegally and had been stopped by police in San Francisco just months earlier driving without a license or insurance. Originally from Honduras, Galo had been cited for going the wrong way down a one-way street, but had been released by San Francisco authorities and charges were dropped.

The day Galo killed Drew Rosenberg, he was driving again without a license. He made a left turn at an intersection and collided with Rosenberg, who was in the intersection on his motorcycle. Galo was charged with vehicular manslaughter and later deported in 2013.

Two different 30-second spots are running. In the ads, Don Rosenberg says, “Nobody wants criminal illegal aliens shielded from the law in California. Especially the immigrant communities they terrorize. It is time to make California a sanctuary, for Californians.”

In the ads, Rosenberg also refers to the deaths of Kate Steinle and Jamiel Shaw, who were both shot to death by undocumented immigrants.

Californians for Populations Stabilization said the ad campaign began in late May and will continue at least through the end of June. Joe Guzzardi, national media director for the organization, said the advertising buy exceeds $250,000. Brantley Davis, executive VP with Davis Agency, a Washington, DC, advertising and media buying firm, said the number of TV viewers expected to see the ads will exceed 13 million.

“We have received tens of thousands of likes on Facebook and other social media,” said Guzzardi. “But unfortunately, Twitter has halted CAPS’ ability to promote Don Rosenberg’s tweets about the ads, essentially calling the story of Drew’s murder offensive. It seems like Twitter should spend more time censoring terrorists instead of folks like Don Rosenberg.”

In recent months, Governor Brown, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have advocated more funding for the defense of undocumented aliens facing deportation. According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement report published in March 20, 19 California cities and counties, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego are currently considered sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, though San Diego officials reject this characterization.