On Thursday, Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar of Florida—an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump—publicly questioned his administration’s immigration policy, warning that law enforcement measures had gone too far.
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The statement was released via a campaign message posted on social media, less than two months before the midterm elections, in which Salazar is seeking a fourth consecutive term in the House of Representatives.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. (…) The very Hispanics who helped you reach the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” stated the lawmaker, who represents Florida’s 27th District.
Salazar noted that operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have led to the detention of thousands of individuals who pose no threat to public safety.
The congresswoman cited federal data from July, lamenting that approximately half of the arrested migrants had neither been convicted of a crime nor faced any charges. According to the information presented in the message, more than 51,000 migrants were arrested that month by ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the highest figure recorded during Trump’s second administration.
LA’s march against ICE stopped to call out the Metro Detention Center — one of the first federal prisons in California to hold detained migrants since Trump was elected.
ABOLISH ICE! FREE THEM ALL! https://t.co/CIcFf2WIpr pic.twitter.com/g9CdzDaUHv
— People’s City Council – Los Angeles (@PplsCityCouncil) February 17, 2025
“We are losing the support of the Hispanic community,” Salazar said in the announcement, linking raids and deportations of individuals with no criminal records to a decline in Latino support for the Republican Party.
The lawmaker urged the administration to focus its efforts on deporting individuals with criminal histories while simultaneously offering a legal alternative for immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for years.
As part of her proposal, Salazar once again advocated for the Dignity Act, a bipartisan initiative she is championing in Congress. The bill proposes strengthening border security and establishing a mechanism for certain undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status, albeit without an automatic path to U.S. citizenship.
The congresswoman has defended this proposal despite criticism from conservative quarters, where it is viewed as a form of amnesty. At the same time, immigrant advocacy groups question Salazar’s continued support for other elements of Trump’s immigration agenda.
“I am not talking about granting amnesty, but rather giving them a dignified life in this promised land,” said the lawmaker, who also urged the president to reconsider his policies in order to ensure a dignified life for migrants in the United States.
This message represents one of the most direct public challenges to Trump’s immigration strategy from a Republican member of Congress. It comes at a time when the Hispanic community holds significant electoral weight in Florida, where Latinos make up more than 26 percent of the population.
Although Salazar is considered the favorite in her South Florida district, the November elections could shift the political balance in Washington. Trump’s declining poll numbers and the possibility that Republicans could lose control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have heightened the importance of the Hispanic vote.
A U.S. government investigation found overcrowding, abuse, and the use of small metal cages as “calming areas” at Alligator Alcatraz, a southern Florida migrant detention center, after several inspections, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector… pic.twitter.com/3CQbzBJxBW
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) September 15, 2026
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