GOP Congresswoman in Deep-Red District Faces Backlash Over New Ad Bashing Trump’s Immigration Policies

A Republican lawmaker in a deep-red district, Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, is facing intense backlash from fellow GOP members over a direct-to-camera ad criticizing President Trump’s immigration policies. Ms. Salazar, despite representing a deep-red district with a large immigrant population, is now in a competitive race, according to polling.Ms. Salazar has represented South Florida in the House of Representatives since 2021, after she flipped a swing district to red from blue. More than 54 percent of her constituents are immigrants and her congressional district has the second-highest foreign-born population in the country.Earlier this year, Ms. Salazar was criticized openly by some of her fellow House Republicans after she renewed her push for the DIGNIDAD Act, a bill which would grant citizenship to some immigrants who are working in the United States. Now, the GOP’s hardline immigration restrictionists are coming after her again. “Mr. President: some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Ms. Salazar says in her ad, which was filmed in front of the White House. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policies. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”“You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism,” she continues. “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty — I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land, and only you can do that.” Ms. Salazar is also airing a version of the ad in Spanish. Mr. Trump won Ms. Salazar’s district by 15 points in the last election, though Hispanic voters’ significant shift toward Democrats in the last 18 months has some believing that Ms. Salazar can be unseated. The official Democratic Party X account posted a video of Ms. Salazar on Thursday showing her calling for additional funding for ICE, accusing her of being a hypocrite.Republicans, meanwhile, also decided to come after her.The House Freedom Caucus’s X account reposted an ad from the Freedom Caucus Foundation which began running earlier this year criticizing Ms. Salazar’s DIGNIDAD Act. “The name’s in a foreign language because it benefits foreigners over American citizens,” the 30-second spot states. “The DIGNIDAD Act is an amnesty bill.”Around the same time, the Freedom Caucus began reposting several X messages from Republican lawmakers — a clear shot at Ms. Salazar.“The only things America should be giving illegal aliens is a final order of removal and a deportation flight home,” Congressman Chip Roy wrote in one message shared by his caucus. “No amnesty. Not now, not ever.”“NO to mass amnesty. YES to mass deportations,” Congressman Ralph Norman wrote. “We are a nation of laws, and there should never be amnesty for those who broke them,” another lawmaker, Congressman Mark Harris, said. “ALL illegal aliens broke the law. ALL illegal aliens deserve to be deported. NO exceptions,” Congressman Andrew Clyde wrote.Even a former lawmaker, Marjorie Taylor Greene, weighed in not only to criticize Ms. Salazar, but also to criticize Mr. Trump for supporting her. “Trump endorsed her 3 times. This is not a sudden turn for her, she always said these things to all of us and to him. Trump knew and still endorsed her,” Ms. Greene wrote on X. “Trump is the Trojan horse.” “Is she trying to lose her election?” asked Will Chamberlain, senior counsel at the conservative Article III Project. When Florida Republicans and Governor Ron DeSantis redrew the state’s congressional map earlier this year, Ms. Salazar’s district largely went unchanged. Several other Republicans in deep-red seats saw some GOP voters moved out of their districts in an effort to flip neighboring Democratic seats, though some conservatives worry the gerrymander may have become a “dummymander” in which loyal partisan voters are spread too thinly across districts, leading to a net loss of seats. Even before Ms. Salazar’s district was made slightly more blue, she was in a competitive race. According to polls, Ms. Salazar is now in a single-digit race even though she was re-elected by more than 20 points less than two years ago. In March, the firm Blueprint Polling found her leading her Democratic opponent by only three points. The Democratic candidate, Elliott Rodriguez, released an internal poll in August showing a tied race. On Thursday, the House Majority PAC — a group dedicated to electing House Democrats — released a poll showing Ms. Salazar leading Mr. Rodriguez by only one point.

GOP Congresswoman in Deep-Red District Faces Backlash Over New Ad Bashing Trump’s Immigration Policies

GOP Congresswoman in Deep-Red District Faces Backlash Over New Ad Bashing Trump’s Immigration Policies

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