PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

Dr. Manny Sethi is attacking undocumented immigrants again. But unlike he did in his dorky television ad from last week (more on that here), the senatorial candidate didn’t recruit his mom for the latest entry in his xenophobic campaign. On Tuesday he released a three-point immigration policy that supports Trump’s ridiculous border wall and recycles old fear-mongering talking points that echo prominent racists like Pat Buchanan.

The policy is like a greatest-hits collection of Fox News talking points: The border is a “war zone”; migrants are bringing fentanyl over; there are complaints about “chain migration” and even a call to end birthright citizenship.

Sethi brands himself yet again as a son of “legal immigrants,” and his policy calls for skilled, wealthy and educated immigrants to receive better treatment. Which is already what happens. He also repeats the old line that immigrants are a burden on the welfare system, even though immigrants contribute more in taxes than they take in social services. His attempt to pit so-called legal immigrants against undocumented arrivals is an old trope, and ignores the various ways people enter this country and the various reasons they left their homes. For example, more people overstay visas than cross the border.

Of course, the claim about fentanyl is also suspect, since most fentanyl is traced to legal ports of entry. Chain migration is a real phenomenon, but it’s much slower than conservatives would have you believe. It’s also a family-based phenomena, and there already exist strict caps on how many children and siblings of U.S. citizens can immigrate. And ending birthright citizenship, which is protected by the 14th Amendment, is a pipedream — perhaps an even longer shot than Sethi winning the Republican nomination against Bill Hagerty, who has already raised twice as much money in campaign funds.

In his TV spot, Sethi dared liberals to call him a racist for his views on immigration, as though the fact that his well-educated doctor parents are from India balances out the fact he’s repeating a bunch of racist talking points. Sethi can try and prop up some “good immigrant versus bad immigrant” ruse and deck it out with all the half-truths and exaggerations he likes; he can hide from criticism behind his own mother; but there’s no hiding the fact that right-wing prejudice against Latin American migrants is fueling this campaign.