PROVO — A national immigration-restriction group released a radio advertisement Monday that openly mocked Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and endorsed his opponent, John Jacob, in the June 27 Republican primary.

Team America ran the ad 13 times Monday on KSL Newsradio. The ad, called offensive by Cannon's chief of staff, used a sneering laugh track to attack Cannon's campaign statements that he is against illegal immigration.

"Chris Cannon's tough on illegal immigration? (Canned laughter) That's a joke, but it's not funny," the ad says. "That's why Utah needs to vote against Chris Cannon and for John Jacob ... to clean up the illegal immigration mess Chris Cannon helped create."

Team America, a conservative political action committee based in Washington, D.C., posted two versions of the ad on its Web site. Both used the same information, but one was a straightforward spot while the Web site called the one with the laugh track — the one that aired Monday in Utah — its "funny" version.

"I don't think people in Utah are going to consider it funny," said Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff. "It's a pretty nasty ad and filled with laughter on a very important subject. We're very confident people in Utah will react the way Utahns usually do to ad campaigns like this."

In the ad, a commentator says Cannon voted nine times to support amnesty for illegal aliens and co-sponsored six amnesty bills.

Jacob said he hadn't heard the Team America ad as of Monday afternoon and did not endorse it.

He agreed that Utahns have proved their distaste for negative campaigning.

However, he said, he didn't consider the Team America ad to be negative.

"Chris has made those statements, and his record is not the same," Jacob said. "He has supported amnesty, and he has supported illegal immigration."

Hunter said Cannon stands by his statements that he opposes amnesty and said Cannon's voting record reflects that.

The Cannon campaign responded with a new ad of its own late Monday afternoon. The radio spot, which also aired on KSL Newsradio, claimed Cannon's record shows real action to stop illegal immigration.

"I've been working for stricter screening at entry points, increased border surveillance, more border patrol agents and closing the loopholes that allow the system to be abused," Cannon says in the ad.

The two candidates argued Saturday during a debate over the definition of amnesty in a replay of Cannon's re-election bid two years ago, when other national immigration-restriction groups like Project USA spent tens of thousands of dollars on billboard and radio ads in a failed attempt to defeat Cannon.