Florida Republican breaks with Trump over immigration arrests in new campaign ad

Florida Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar has launched a direct public challenge to Donald Trump over his administration's immigration crackdown, warning him in a new campaign advertisement that his policies are alienating Hispanic voters.

What did the campaign ad say?

In the 30-second ad released on Thursday, Salazar explicitly tells the president that his enforcement efforts have "gone too far" and says his administration is betraying the very voters who helped him win the 2024 election.

"In July, 50 per cent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record," Salazar says in the video, citing federal immigration data. "Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today."

Why is Salazar breaking ranks now?

The public break represents a significant gamble for Salazar, who represents a highly competitive Miami-area congressional district that is nearly three-quarters Hispanic. While Trump carried the district by 15 percentage points in 2024, his administration’s aggressive approach to deportations has increasingly targeted undocumented immigrants with no criminal history, sparking deep anxiety in immigrant communities.

Salazar, who won her seat by 20 points two years ago, is facing a formidable midterm challenge from Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former television news anchor. A poll conducted late last month for the Rodriguez campaign showed the two candidates in a dead heat ahead of the November elections.

What is Salazar's alternative?

The congresswoman's warning is not entirely sudden. Last month, she told Trump he was "playing with fire" with his mass deportation strategy, warning that it risked destroying the gains Republicans have made with Latino voters.

In her new ad, Salazar frames the issue as a historic test of leadership, urging Trump to change course. "You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism," she says. "I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land."

First elected in 2020, Salazar has long positioned herself as a moderate voice on the issue. She has championed the Dignity Act, a bipartisan House bill designed to provide a legal pathway to status for some undocumented immigrants without offering outright amnesty.

Her decision to put clear blue water between herself and the president reflects growing jitters among congressional Republicans as they prepare for the November midterms. With the Democrats fighting to claw back control of both the House and Senate, and Trump's overall approval ratings flagging, some moderate Republicans are deciding that absolute loyalty to the White House on immigration has become a political liability.