Ohio's 2024 Senate Race: Sherrod Brown vs. Bernie Moreno
We endorse Sherrod Brown to remain Ohio’s Senator. His record demonstrates to us that he is a pro-refugee partner that we can work with to advance pro-refugee policies and priorities in the years ahead. We recommend all voters in Ohio who care about protecting refugees vote for Sherrod Brown.
Sherrod Brown: A Pro-Refugee Partner We Can Work With
Senator Sherrod Brown has been serving as Ohio’s Senator since 2007 and is seeking re-election. As a Senator, Brown has been a proactive supporter of pro-refugee legislation. In 2019, he co-sponsored the Refugee Protection Act, a landmark bill championing rights for refugees and asylum seekers. He has been outspoken in support of Dreamers and opposed Trump’s orders blocking refugees and reducing resettlement goals. In 2022, following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Senator Brown signed a resolution to support Afghan resettlement and thank those on the ground leading the evacuation. Voice for Refuge ranked him a Supporter of Relocation & Resettlement of Afghans in our scorecards of the 117th Congress.
Brown’s opponent is businessman Bernie Moreno. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Moreno came to the US when he was five, becoming a US citizen at age 18. His father was a surgeon, completing his residency at the University of Pennsylvania before their move to the US and his mother earned a degree from Stanford. Now, as a candidate, he’s running on his “legal immigration” story. He has repeated harmful lies about Haitian immigrants who live and work legally in Springfield, OH. He has called for ending TPS protections and effectively ending access to asylum for those who cross the southern border seeking protection. Though he advocated for “common sense immigration reform” in 2016, he has now aligned his 2024 campaign with Trump’s policies to finish the border wall, pass the RAISE act to limit refugees offered permanent residency to 50,000 per year, and mass deportation.
Record on: | Sherrod Brown | Bernie Moreno |
Refugee Resettlement | Pro-Refugee Champion Cosponsored the Refugee Protection Act, a landmark bill championing rights for refugees and asylum seekers. Joined FY 2024 and FY 2025 Dear Colleague letters supporting robust funding for refugee protection, resettlement, and related spending accounts | Anti-Refugee Extremist Supports “merit-based” immigration and limiting refugee resettlement and family reunification. Says he’d support the RAISE act to limit refugees offered permanent residency to 50,000 per year and reduce overall immigration totals. |
Asylum and family reunification | Pro-Refugee Partner Joined a Dear Colleague letter calling for increased funding for legal services for unaccompanied children arriving at the border. Joined faith leaders in denouncing child separation policy in 2019. | Anti-Refugee Extremist Has called for restricting those who cross the southern border from seeking asylum and supports investing additional billions of dollars inTrump’s border wall. |
Temporary Protective Status (TPS) and Dreamers | Pro-Refugee Partner Outspoken in support of Dreamers and voted in favor of the DREAM Act. | Anti-Refugee Extremist Campaigning on ending TPS in 2025 if elected, saying “we’re not going to continue to extend temporary protective status”. Rejects pathways to citizenship. |
Afghan response and resettlement | Supporter Joined a resolution supporting Afghan resettlement and thanking those working to evacuate allies. | N/A Bernie Moreno was not in elected office during this time. |
Speaking about refugees, immigrants, and asylees in the US | Pro-Refugee Partner Opposed Trump orders blocking refugees – and joined other Senate Democrats in opposing the Trump administration’s proposal to cap refugee admissions at 15,000 in FY 2021. | Anti-Refugee Extremist Joins Republican calls for mass deportation, using divisive rhetoric to misrepresent immigrants and refugees in the US. |
Result: | Pro-Refugee Partner we can work with | Anti-Refugee Extremist |
Sources:
- www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2936/cosponsors
- www.ideastream.org/news/sherrod-brown-joins-faith-leaders-to-denounce-trumps-separation-policy
- www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/multimedia/watch/senator-brown-speaks-out-for-ohios-dreamers
- www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-opposes-executive-order-blocking-
- www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/dem/releases/senate-democrats-denounce-trump-administrations-historically-low-refugee-resettlement-goal-and-push-for-increased-admissions
- voiceforrefuge.org/scorecards-2/
- spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/politics/2023/05/17/as-he-pursues-trump–senate-candidate-moreno-embraces-his-immigration-policies
- www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-cotton-perdue-and-hawley-re-introduce-the-reforming-american-immigration-for-a-strong-economy-act-raise-act
- spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/politics/2023/05/17/as-he-pursues-trump–senate-candidate-moreno-embraces-his-immigration-policies
- www.axios.com/2024/08/18/bernie-moreno-ohio-immigration-border-trump
- dayton247now.com/news/local/bernie-moreno-spoke-on-immigration-in-springfield-senate-campaign-stop
- www.statenews.org/government-politics/2024-02-20/ohios-republican-u-s-senate-candidates-talk-immigration-ukraine-and-trump-in-live-forum
Unless stated below: this is an independent expenditure prepared and paid for by Voice for Refuge Action Fund, P.O. Box 1933, 28606 Phillips Street, Elkhart, IN 46515, Erol Kekic, Executive Director, and no candidate authorized this ad – it is not coordinated with, authorized by, or approved by any candidate or candidate’s committee, nor is any candidate responsible for it.
