Florida Republican Says Trump Went 'Too Far' on Immigration

A Republican House member has called out President Trump on his immigration policies in a campaign ad, in what could be another warning sign about the midterms for the White House. In the commercial, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar looks into the camera and says, "Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far," adding that Hispanic voters who helped elect him in 2024 "feel betrayed today." The three-term Miami lawmaker also is airing a Spanish-language version. Politico reports.

Politico pronounces the statement an unusually direct critique from a Trump-endorsed Republican; the New York Times calls it "a rare and remarkable break." It's all the more jarring because her race this fall hadn't been on the lists of the most competitive, after Trump won it with 57% of the vote last time. But Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez says his polling shows the race in the majority-Latino district to be a tossup. A campaign strategist for Rodriguez described Salazar's message as "'Alligator Alcatraz' tears"—a hypocritical reaction to the backlash. "She did this," Fernand Amandi said in a statement. "She owns all of these deportations, ICE harassment and racial profiling. She voted for all this. She gave Trump the billions in ICE funding and the tools to do this."