A Republican congresswoman from Florida running for reelection in a heavily Hispanic district is criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in a new campaign ad, an extraordinary public break with the president for a GOP candidate.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s pointed critique of a signature piece of Trump’s second-term agenda comes as the president has been losing support among Hispanic voters amid backlash to his aggressive deportation push, reversing the inroads he made during the 2024 campaign.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Salazar says in the ad, adding: “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”
Trump’s crackdown on immigrants without
legal status has roiled many communities, sparking protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a battle in Congress over agency reforms.
The issue has receded somewhat after Trump recalibrated his approach following public outcry over the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, but Salazar’s new ad is evidence that it remains a hot topic in key districts. Trump’s immigration efforts are proving unpopular, with 62% of Americans saying they disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue in a Gallup survey.
Meanwhile, Just 25% of Hispanic adults approve of Trump, according to an October survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s down from 44% shortly before he took office in 2025.
Salazar’s district in the Miami area includes many immigrants from Cuba and South America. Trump carried the district by double digits in 2024 on his way to winning majority-Hispanic Miami-Dade County, flipping a long-time Democratic stronghold and demonstrating his sway with Hispanic voters.
Yet there have been signs that the pendulum in swinging back toward Democrats in the region, with a Democrat winning the Miami mayor’s race last year for the first time in nearly three decades.
Salazar is running for a fourth term against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez in a matchup that features two Cuban American former television journalists. Rodriguez has criticized Trump’s mass deportation effort.
In her 30-second ad, Salazar warned Trump “to be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy.” She notes that half of the people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July did not have criminal records.
Trump’s low approval rating is threatening to drag down Republican candidates in battleground districts, and others have moved to distance themselves from the president in recent days.
A pair of Republican Iowa lawmakers, Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, voted this week to limit Trump’s war powers in Iran.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican lawmaker breaks with Trump, says Hispanics 'feel betrayed'
