A Florida congresswoman endorsed by President Donald Trump is now running campaign ads accusing his administration of going “too far” on immigration, warning that Hispanic voters who helped elect him “feel betrayed today.”
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican seeking her fourth term, released the unusual advertisement Thursday directly addressing the president by name and challenging his advisers on enforcement policy.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Salazar says in the spot, which is running in both English and Spanish across the Miami market. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”
The ad then takes a striking turn. Salazar compares the immigration issue to some of history’s defining moral struggles, telling Trump: “You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism.”
She quickly clarifies she’s not calling for amnesty. “I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land,” she says.
At the center of Salazar’s criticism are ICE arrest statistics. She cites government data showing that of the roughly 49,571 people arrested by ICE in July, more than half had no prior criminal convictions or charges. The government’s definition of “no criminal record” does not include immigration violations, meaning those arrested may still have entered or remained in the country illegally.
Salazar’s campaign has increasingly emphasized her independence from the administration in recent weeks.
The congresswoman has previously pushed immigration legislation that would create a pathway to legal status for certain immigrants who have lived in the United States for years and passed background checks. Her new ad continues that theme while taking direct aim at the president who endorsed her.
“I’m not talking about giving them amnesty,” she repeats in the advertisement, attempting to thread a needle between enforcement-minded Republican voters and Hispanic constituents concerned about aggressive ICE operations.
Salazar’s willingness to publicly criticize a sitting Republican president while running for reelection marks an unusual strategy in a party that has largely unified behind Trump’s immigration agenda. The president made border security and deportations central promises of his campaign, and most Republican candidates have embraced those positions.
The district has proven competitive in past congressional races despite Trump’s strong showing there in the presidential contest.
