Rep. María Elvira Salazar warned Donald Trump that his immigration crackdown had gone “too far” after landing his endorsement, giving her Democratic challenger a ready-made opening to accuse her of trying to save herself before voters decide.
Salazar (R-FL), who is running for a fourth term in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, speaks straight to Trump in a new campaign ad aimed at Republican voters in her Miami-area district.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Salazar says in the ad. “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.”
The ad puts Salazar publicly at odds with the president whose backing she celebrated earlier this year.
It also gives immigration enforcement center stage in her race against Eliott Rodriguez (D-FL), the Democratic nominee and former CBS Miami journalist who cast her warning as political survival dressed up as principle.
🚨Breaking news: @MaElviraSalazar is lying, again! She’s been a pathetic rubber stamp for Trump while they made D-27 unaffordable, slashed health care, terrorized immigrants and shoved constituents into Alligator Alcatraz. Now, before the election, she pretends to fight Trump. 🤦🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/mpK0NBDcvS
— Eliott Rodriguez (@ERodforCongress) September 17, 2026
“Make no mistake. These are crocodile tears from someone worried about losing an election,” Rodriguez said.
Salazar uses July ICE numbers to argue that enforcement has swept in too many people without prior criminal convictions or charges, rather than staying focused on dangerous criminals.
“In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record,” Salazar says in the ad.
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ICE made 49,571 arrests in July, and government data put the share with no prior criminal convictions or charges above half.
Salazar also frames Trump as someone who could leave a historic mark on immigration, while insisting she is not asking for amnesty.
“You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism,” Salazar says. “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”
The Miami-market ad was produced in both English and Spanish.
Rodriguez responded by tying Salazar directly to the enforcement approach she now says has gone too far.
“She has voted with the Trump agenda 100%. She voted to fund [Immigration and Customs Enforcement.] She did not speak out against Alligator Alcatraz,” he commented.
In a social media video, Rodriguez said Salazar had “desperately sought Donald Trump’s endorsement” before criticizing a policy he called “political poison in her re-election campaign.”
He also called Salazar a “pathetic rubber stamp for Donald Trump.”
“María Elvira Salazar did this—make no mistake about it,” Rodriguez said. “She owns all of these deportations, ICE harassment, family separations, and racial profiling. She voted for it. She gave Donald Trump the money and the tools to do it.”
Rodriguez argued that Salazar’s timing exposed the political calculation, saying she was trying to persuade voters “just 47 days before the midterm election” that she opposed Trump’s treatment of undocumented people with no criminal record.
Trump’s February endorsement had presented Salazar as a dependable supporter.
“Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar is doing a truly fantastic job representing the wonderful people of Florida’s 27th Congressional District!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president’s post described Salazar as a former news anchor and political reporter, then credited her with work on tax cuts, energy policy, border security, migrant crime, the military, veterans and the Second Amendment.
His final line now sits awkwardly beside her immigration ad.
“María Elvira Salazar has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election – SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote.
Salazar has backed immigration legislation that would allow certain long-term immigrants in the United States to seek legal status after passing criminal background checks.
The ad came soon after Salazar objected to the reported detention of Luis Galeano, an exiled Nicaraguan journalist whose U.S. asylum application has been pending for years.
“America must always know the difference between a criminal and a political exile,” Salazar said in a social media statement.
She said the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship had targeted Galeano, driven him into exile and stripped him of citizenship.
“That history matters. He cannot be sent back into the hands of the people who targeted him,” Salazar said.
Salazar said she had told the administration to enforce the law without treating political exiles as criminals.
“I have been clear with the Administration: enforce the law and deport dangerous individuals, but do not treat political exiles like criminals,” Salazar said.
Immigration was not the only issue where Salazar recently had to adjust her public line around Trump.
She briefly removed posts criticizing a major U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement, then returned with a version that supported the deal while still taking aim at Venezuela’s interim leadership.
Her first post said any oil deal with Venezuela’s interim regime would expire when Trump left office and accused the regime of “buying time.”
“The regime has stolen American investments before, and it will do again the moment it can,” Salazar wrote in the deleted post.
Roughly an hour after the English and Spanish posts disappeared, Salazar came back with praise for the agreement.
“The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal is a great deal for the United States and the Venezuelan people,” she wrote.
Salazar said China had used Venezuela’s weakness to buy oil at deep discounts, while U.S. investment could offer “prosperity, stability, and security.”
She still objected to Delcy Rodríguez’s role, writing, “Delcy is the wrong person to make this deal with.”
The House Freedom Caucus also pushed against Salazar’s immigration ad, answering through a statement to Fox News that backed Trump’s approach.
“President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts should be applauded and continue as is,” the lawmakers stated.
The caucus said anyone who enters the country illegally has committed a crime and argued that the government should protect the dignity of American citizens.
“Granting illegal aliens any legal status to remain in the United States is amnesty. We reject amnesty,” the caucus stated. “The House Freedom Caucus stands with President Trump: secure the border, enforce the law, and lock these policies into statute, so no future administration can erase them with a pen.”
