MIAMI — Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar released a campaign ad in July 2025 criticizing President Trump's immigration enforcement efforts. The advertisement directly addressed the president regarding the detention of individuals without criminal records during the first month of his second term.

"Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far," Salazar said in the video. She cited specific statistics from July 2025 to support her claim that the administration's approach had exceeded appropriate boundaries.

"In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record," she said. This figure amounts to 25,000 individuals who were held despite having no criminal history. July 2025 was the first month of Trump's second term when individuals with only civil immigration violations constituted more than half of those arrested.

Salazar warned the president about the sources of his policy guidance. "Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy," she said. She connected these enforcement actions to the political coalition that supported Trump in the previous election cycle.

"The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today," she said. She invoked historical comparisons to frame her argument for a different approach to immigration policy. "You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism," she said.

The representative clarified her position on legal status for undocumented residents. "I'm not talking about giving them amnesty. I'm talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land," she said. She advocates for immigration reform to provide renewable legal work status for undocumented workers who have lived in the U.S. for years, lack a criminal record, and pay taxes.

Salazar represents a Miami-area congressional district where nearly three-quarters of the population is Hispanic, according to Census Bureau data. She was born in Miami's Little Havana and is the daughter of Cuban exiles. A former television journalist, Salazar has interviewed Nicolás Maduro and Fidel Castro. She has served in Congress since 2021.

Salazar is running for reelection against Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a former news anchor Miami. He won his primary election in August to challenge Salazar. A poll conducted for Eliott Rodriguez's campaign late last month found him tied with Salazar.

Salazar is a champion of the Dignity Act, an immigration reform proposal in the House of Representatives. The Dignity Act would create a pathway for some undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status. In the 2024 election, Salazar won re-election by a 20-percentage point margin. Donald Trump won Salazar's district by a 15-percentage point margin in the 2024 election.

National polling data indicates mixed public sentiment regarding the president's policies. A CBS News poll found that 55% of adults nationwide disapprove of President Trump's handling of immigration. President Trump's overall approval rating stood at 39% in a recent CBS News poll. The midterm elections are scheduled for November 3.

Why It Matters

The release of this campaign ad shows a divergence between a Republican representative and her party's president on immigration enforcement within a district that strongly supported Trump. With nearly three-quarters of Salazar's district being Hispanic, the statistic that 50% of detainees in July 2025 had no criminal record carries significant local relevance. The ad cites that 25,000 of the 50,000 people detained that month fell into this category, marking the first time in Trump's second term that civil violators constituted the majority of arrests.

The political stakes are reflected by recent polling showing Rodriguez tied with Salazar, despite her 20-point victory margin in 2024. While Trump won the district by 15 points, national disapproval of his immigration handling stands at 55%. Salazar's advocacy for the Dignity Act offers a legislative alternative to current enforcement tactics, proposing legal status pathways for long-term residents without criminal records. The upcoming midterm elections on November 3 will test whether this criticism resonates with voters in a district that balances strong Republican presidential support with a predominantly Hispanic population.

Timeline

Elvira Salazar won re-election by a 20-percentage point margin in 2024. In July 2025, 50% of the 50,000 people detained by immigration enforcement had no criminal record. Eliott Rodriguez won his primary election in August to challenge Salazar.

What's New

In July 2025, Rep. Elvira Salazar released a campaign ad directly criticizing President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies, citing that half of those detained had no criminal record. In July 2025, 50 percent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record, according to Rep. Elvira Salazar's campaign ad. Elvira Salazar is a champion of the Dignity Act, an immigration reform proposal in the House of Representatives.