Florida Republican breaks with Trump, says immigration policy has ‘gone too far’

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) broke with President Donald Trump on immigration in a new advertisement Thursday, saying some of his immigration enforcement efforts have “gone too far.”Salazar, who represents a large Hispanic community in Miami and its suburbs in South Florida, has been a vocal advocate for immigrant communities and an outspoken critic of mass deportations, having championed a controversial immigration reform bill this Congress.The ad, which was paid for by Salazar’s campaign, urges Trump that he can be for immigration what “Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for communism.” “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” Salazar says in the advertisement. “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”Salazar’s bill, the DIGNIDAD Act, would provide a pathway to legal status for millions of illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years and can pass a criminal background check.The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House for comment. Salazar is running for a fourth term in Florida’s 27th Congressional District and will face former CBS Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez in the general election. Trump won Salazar’s district by 14 percentage points in 2024; however, in 2020, that margin was much narrower, with Trump only winning the district by 0.2%.