President Donald Trump does not take kindly to perceived disloyalty, but he remained silent immediately after his mass deportation program was sharply rebuked by Cuban-American U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican.
As of midday Sept. 18, Trump had not commented on a short video Salazar posted on social media this week. The president posted just before 2 p.m. that his approval rating among Republicans is 95%
"A RECORD. Second place is Ronald Reagan at 86%. Thank you!" he wrote, but did not cite the poll or where the data came from.
Salazar's 30-second spot titled "A Message to President Trump on Immigration" admonished the president that he has "betrayed" Latino voters who helped restore him to the White House.
Salazar charged the administration's
immigration policies had "gone too far," noting that half of those people detained by immigration authorities in July did not have a criminal record. She warned the president that he was being misled by unnamed advisers. She called on Trump to allow immigrants to live "a dignified life in this promised land."
It was not the first time, however, that Salazar voiced concerns about the detention and deportation of people without criminal records. Still, it pointedly called out the president on an issue polls increasingly show Americans unapproving of the way his administration is handling.
Trump endorsed Salazar in August GOP primary
Salazar's Sept. 17 video followed by exactly a month Trump's endorsement of the three-term congresswoman in the Florida Republican primary election. Trump said in the Aug. 17 post that Salazar was doing a "truly fantastic job" in the district.
"María Elvira Salazar has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election!" he stated.
The next day, Trump celebrated Salazar's win in a subsequent post.
While Trump had not spoken out on Salazar's video, it received a decidedly mixed reaction on social media.
"Betrayed? No thanks. We never expected anything different for Hispanics under Trump," wrote one critic. "If anyone was wrong, it wasn't the advisors, nor was it Trump. It was you."
Others noted that Salazar had positively assessed the now-closed Alligator Alcatraz detention camp in Everglades. The facility was the subject of a scathing Department of Homeland Security report that documented abusive living conditions while the facility was in operation.
After a tour of the facility last year, which was constructed by the state and not the federal government, Salazar said what she saw was "a jail" with cages. But she stated the facility's living areas and recreational space were "clean" and the bedding acceptable.
A Message to President Trump on Immigration | María Elvira Salazar pic.twitter.com/memcf4jags
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) September 17, 2026
"Hey, no one wants to be there but it meets the highest standard for any federal center or installation like this one," she reported in one broadcast interview.
Others, however, were far more encouraging in reacting to her video.
"Maria Elvira, I’m with you. President Trump is being misguided by people who know little about politics and belong to the MAGA movement—not to the Republican Party as an institution," wrote another on X.com. "Keep fighting for our country, our Hispanic community, and our GOP."
Salazar is not the only Miami Republican elected official to speak out critically on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
GOP state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a founder of the Latinas for Trump movement, also voiced concerns earlier this year.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump quiet after Miami GOP congresswoman torches mass deportations
