Republican Miami Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, who is seeking re-election in November, launched an ad this Thursday directly attacking President Donald Trump for his immigration policy, whose arrest and deportation operations, Salazar claims, “have gone too far.”
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Hispanic voters who “helped Trump return to the White House” in 2024 now feel “betrayed,” says the congresswoman from District 27, which covers Miami-Dade County, home to some of the largest Latin American diasporas in the country, including Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans.
“Mr. President, your immigration policies have gone too far,” Salazar says in a video in Spanish posted on social media, with what appears to be the White House in the background. “In July, your government detained 50,000 people and half of them had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisors tell you. The same Hispanics who brought you to the White House in 2024 today feel betrayed,” she adds.
A message to President Trump on immigration | María Elvira Salazar pic.twitter.com/jEwtL7Mbe8
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) September 17, 2026
Salazar said in the message that she is not asking Trump for an “amnesty” for migrants, and that if he finds a solution, it could “be to immigration what Lincoln was to slavery and Reagan to communism.” “I am talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land,” she adds.
The message to Trump comes less than two months before the midterm elections on November 3, where Salazar seeks re-election for District 27 against Democrat Eliott Rodríguez, a former Miami TV presenter. A Bendixen & Amandi International poll conducted in late August for Rodríguez’s campaign showed both candidates tied, with 45% of the votes. Salazar comfortably won the district in 2024 by more than 20 points.
Seventy-four percent of District 27 residents are Hispanic. Trump won the district in 2024 with 57% of the votes against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, reflecting the Republican shift in Miami-Dade County, which had been a Democratic stronghold for decades.
ICE operations in South Florida
The Trump administration has launched an anti-immigrant offensive that has intensified in recent months and has generated fear in South Florida communities. According to official figures, ICE arrested nearly 51,000 people in August, a new record. Most of those detained have no criminal records, according to records, and many have pending immigration cases, including asylum applications.
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The Miami-Dade area has been hard hit by ICE operations in recent months. Almost daily, videos are posted on social media showing agents arresting people on their way to work near some of the county’s main arteries. Also, migrants in irregular situations or with pending cases have avoided going out for fear of the operations.
The Miami ICE office went from making about 70 arrests daily last year to 120, one of the highest rates in the country. Local police forces have expanded their collaboration with ICE in immigration operations through 287(g) agreements, which allow local agencies to act as immigration officers.
Salazar did not respond to EL PAÍS’s questions about why she decided to launch the message at this time.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has indicated that the offensive is a priority for the Trump administration, and that anyone found to be “illegally” in the country can be detained and deported, regardless of their criminal record.
Salazar’s proposal in Congress
Salazar has introduced a bill called Dignity, which seeks a path to regularize the immigration status of those who have been in the U.S. for more than five years without criminal records. Immigrants would have to pay $7,000 to the government to obtain legal status for seven years. The bill does not offer a path to citizenship. The legislator introduced the proposal in Congress in 2022 and reintroduced it the following year alongside Texas Democratic Congresswoman Verónica Escobar. They reintroduced it again last year.
Republicans have sought to portray the proposal as a form of “amnesty” that would allow millions of immigrants to avoid deportation, while migrant advocacy organizations criticize that the protections it offers are limited, with no possibility of obtaining residency or citizenship.
The initiative did not advance in Congress when first introduced. The new version has gained support from about 40 legislators from both parties and has not reached a vote on the floor.