FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Republicans seen as insufficiently strong on border security should proceed with caution, warns a political action committee that plans to spend more than $1 million to defeat them in the 2024 elections.

“If you support open borders and illegal immigration, you will find no safe haven in state legislatures,” Katie Miller, chairwoman of Stand for Us PAC and a former Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, told The Daily Signal. “We will find you and defeat you.”

After helping defeat the Republican president of the West Virginia state Senate in the GOP primary there on May 14, Stand for Us PAC decided to increase its initial investment to more than $1 million to defeat Republican incumbents elsewhere who accede to the Left’s plans to subsidize health care for migrants.

An ad previewed exclusively with The Daily Signal highlights the group’s plans to thwart the campaigns of officeholders and candidates who support 340B, a federal drug-subsidy program, that if expanded could be used to subsidize health care for illegal immigrants.

State Senate President Craig Blair supported West Virginia Senate Bill 325, which opponents said expands 340B in the state. It passed the state Senate on April 23.

“Rather than fight for us, West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair sided with Democrats,” the PAC’s video says. “Blair led the expansion of 340B, a federal program that subsidizes health care for illegals.”

Challenger Tom Willis bested Blair in a three-candidate primary, taking 44% of the vote to Blair’s 32%. Stand for Us PAC said it spent more than $400,000 to defeat Blair, who first arrived in the state Senate in 2013. Willis is a lawyer, a former U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, and current member of the West Virginia National Guard. 

“Blair sided with illegals, but voters sent a clear message: They said ‘no’ to health care for illegals and no to Craig Blair,” the ad says.

Stand for Us used direct mail, digital display ads, texts, and phone calls to inform the state Senate president’s constituents of his support for strengthening a federal program using taxpayer dollars for illegal immigrant health care.

“Take it from [Blair]: Support 340B and pay the price,” the ad says.

Next in Stand for Us PAC’s sights could be the Republican primary in the Missouri gubernatorial race on Aug. 6. A bill in the state Legislature could expand 340B.

Stand for Us’ mission is to “hold Republicans across the country accountable for capitulating to [President] Joe Biden’s dangerous open-border agenda,” according to its website.

More than 10 million illegal aliens have crossed the U.S. border during Biden’s presidency. Nearly 30% of Americans cited immigration as their top concern in the 2024 election in a February poll.