Salazar criticizes Trump immigration enforcement in campaign ad

Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida is warning President Trump that his immigration enforcement push has “gone too far,” using a new campaign ad to distance herself from a central Trump policy as she faces a competitive reelection fight in a heavily Hispanic Miami-area district.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Salazar says in the 30-second ad. “In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy.”

Salazar, a Cuban American congresswoman, adds that Hispanic voters who helped Trump return to the White House in 2024 now feel alienated by his administration’s approach.

“The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” she says. “You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism. I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”

The ad places Salazar among Republican lawmakers trying to create distance from Trump ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when Democrats are seeking control of the House and Senate. Her district, in the Miami area, is nearly three-quarters Hispanic, according to Census Bureau data, and is Republican-leaning. The Guardian reported that Trump won the district by 15 percentage points in 2024, while Salazar won reelection that year by 20 points.

Salazar is running against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former television news anchor for CBS News Miami who won his primary in August. The Guardian reported that a poll conducted for Rodriguez’s campaign late last month found him tied with Salazar.

Immigration was a major part of Trump’s 2024 campaign, including his promise to carry out “mass deportations.” His administration has indicated that enforcement would focus on undocumented immigrants who committed crimes in the United States, but CBS News reported that July was the first month of Trump’s second term in which people with only civil immigration violations — and no pending criminal charges or convictions — made up more than half of those arrested.

A recent CBS News poll found that 55% of adults nationwide disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 45% approve. His overall approval rating stood at 39%.

Salazar, who has served in Congress since 2021 after first being elected in 2020, has criticized Trump’s deportation efforts before. She has also pushed for immigration reform that would bring undocumented workers “out of the shadows.” She supports proposals allowing immigrants who have lived in the United States for years, have no criminal record and pay taxes to obtain renewable legal work status.

The Guardian described Salazar as a champion of the Dignity Act, a House immigration proposal that would create a pathway for some undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status.

Born in Miami’s Little Havana, Salazar is the daughter of Cuban exiles. Before entering Congress, she worked as a television journalist and interviewed Nicolás Maduro and Fidel Castro, according to her office.

CBS News said it reached out to the White House for comment on Salazar’s ad.