By David Hood-Nuno
April 24 (Reuters) – House Republicans are facing a new challenge in the 2026 midterms: the Homeland Political Action Committee, a new conservative super PAC targeting Republican members of Congress who support immigration reform legislation.
The group’s initial goal is to unseat Republicans who support the bipartisan DIGNIDAD Act, a sweeping immigration reform bill authored by Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, according to PAC founder Ryan Girdusky.
He said that this bill is a betrayal of the values of the President and the party. And while he wants to target every Republican who supports it, that strategy isn’t feasible with the party’s razor-thin majority in the House.
“We have not come to burn the party,” he said. “This is to challenge pro-amnesty Republicans in safe Republican seats and to protect Republicans in challenging seats or swing districts that need support.”
The DIGNIDAD Act, which has 19 Republican co-sponsors, would allow immigrants without legal status to live, work and stay in the country as long as they don’t have a criminal record. It imposes annual fines on people here illegally and does not offer a path to citizenship. The bill provides billions of funds to the Department of Homeland Security for border security with modern technology.
Girdusky founded the 1776 Project PAC, which has raised more than $5 million from small donors since early 2025, according to federal filings, to support conservative local school board candidates across the country.
He hosts a political podcast called “It’s a Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky.” In 2024, Muslim journalist Mehdi Hassan was banned from CNN after Girdusky joked, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” in reference to a deadly 2024 Israeli attack on Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon.
Girdusky is looking to keep House Republicans in a bind: defend Trump’s immigration policy or potentially face a primary challenge from a Homeland PAC-backed candidate.
In addition to Salazar, Girdusky’s hit list includes Republicans in safe GOP districts who support the DIGNIDAD Act, including Reps. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania, Marilyn Stutzman and Jim Baird of Indiana.
All four face primary opponents in their respective races. Girdusky has not endorsed or endorsed any challengers in those races, but plans to if their values align.
Other Republicans who support the DIGNIDAD Act are retiring, such as Reps. Dan Newhouse of Washington and Neal Dunn of Florida, or running in tight races, such as Reps. Young Kim and David Valadao of California.
Representatives for each Republican did not respond to requests for comment.
Girdusky said he believes Homeland PAC will appeal to conservative voters who list immigration enforcement or border security as their top issues.
The campaign against the bill highlights a strategic tension for the Republican Party, which is pitted against Trump and his supporters who want an aggressive immigration policy and alienate Latino voters.
The Homeland PAC does not have the blessing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who faces an uphill battle to retain control of the chamber in November, Girdusky said in a conversation with Johnson and his political team.
A spokeswoman for Johnson’s political operations did not respond to a request for comment.
Latino voters leaned heavily for Trump in 2024 on pocketbook issues like inflation and the high cost of living. Trump won an estimated 48% of the Latino vote in 2024, up 12 percentage points from 36% in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.
But most Latinos say it’s harder to afford everyday expenses than a few years ago, according to a nationwide survey of 2,413 Latinos in early April of this year by the civic participation group Voto Latino.
And a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that Trump’s aggressive campaign to deport immigrants could hurt Republicans in the November election. Some 52% of Americans said they would be less likely to support a candidate who supports Trump’s approach on deportations.
Salazar isn’t worried about a fracture in his coalition, which includes 20 Democrats, but he is worried about Republicans losing control of the House in November.
“There is a very significant coalition of Hispanics, the largest and fastest growing minority in the country,” Salazar said. “These people feel targeted, and they feel like they’re not welcome in the Republican Party, and that worries me.”
Latinos in America have never voted in the same, equal way, said Daniel Alegre, CEO of Spanish-language media company Televisa Univision. But in recent election cycles, Latinos have prioritized economic issues over party loyalty.
“Ignore the Hispanic vote at your peril,” Alegre said. “It is the Hispanic vote in many key races that will determine control of Congress.”
(Reporting by David Hood-Nuno; Editing by Michael Learmonth, Kat Stafford and Alistair Bell)
