Salazar says Trump's ICE push has 'gone too far.' She voted for its $75 billion

In September, Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Miami spoke straight to the camera in a campaign ad aimed at President Trump. She told him that parts of his immigration crackdown had gone too far, and that Hispanic voters who helped elect him now feel betrayed ³⁴.

Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far

Her voting record tells a different story. On Oct. 27, the fact-checking site PolitiFact reviewed a robocall that says Salazar "voted for everything Trump wanted" on immigration. It found the call "largely accurate," though it left out some context about body cameras ¹.

Then: the votes

On July 3, 2025, the House passed H.R. 1, the tax and spending law Republicans named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The vote was 218 to 214, and Salazar voted yes ². PolitiFact says the law gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about $75 billion. That includes $45 billion for detention and nearly $30 billion to hire agents ¹.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs ICE, said the money would pay for 10,000 new agents ¹. WLRN, South Florida's public radio station, reports that the law raised ICE funding about tenfold. Salazar wrote that the bill is more than legislation, calling it a victory for every American chasing the dream ⁵.

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It didn't stop there. PolitiFact reported that in June, Salazar also voted for the Secure America Act, which gave ICE an extra $38.5 billion. The robocall's sponsor, a super PAC called Battleground Alliance, got its "Eighty-three billion dollars for ICE" figure by adding that $38.5 billion to the $45 billion for detention ¹.

Then: 'they are clean'

In July 2025, Salazar toured the Florida detention camp nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz. Afterward she told CBS News the conditions were acceptable ¹.

It's a jail, people are in a cage, I sat on the beds, they are clean, they are soft

She also told the Fox News show Fox & Friends that the "cages were clean," PolitiFact found ¹. That same month, a Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times investigation found that more than 250 of the camp's roughly 750 detainees had no convictions or pending charges ¹.

In September 2026, the DHS Office of Inspector General, the department's internal watchdog, reported that the camp failed several standards. PolitiFact says those covered health and safety, "medical care, food service and personal hygiene." The watchdog also noted that some detainees were held in small metal enclosures ¹.

Now: the ad

In the Sept. 17 ad, Salazar warned Trump to "Be careful what your advisors are telling you about immigration policy." She also argued for her own approach: "I'm not talking about giving them amnesty. I'm talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land" ⁴.

Her approach is the Dignity Act, a bipartisan bill she introduced in 2022 ³. WLRN says it would let many undocumented immigrants work legally for 10 years if they pay $10,000 in restitution. It offers a possible legal status but not full citizenship ⁵.

Her Democratic opponent, longtime Miami TV journalist Eliott Rodriguez, was unimpressed with the ad ⁵.

She just found out about this? She voted for this. This is the result of what she's done in Congress,

Rodriguez says he would restructure ICE rather than abolish it. "I want to abolish the practices that we're seeing ICE agents commit," he told WLRN ⁵. He has also said Salazar is trying to distance herself from immigration policies she once supported ⁶.

What the robocall got wrong

Fairness to the facts matters here. The robocall says she "voted against making ICE agents take off their masks and wear body cameras." PolitiFact says that line is missing context. Salazar never cast a vote squarely against a mask ban or a body camera rule ¹.

What she did was vote against a Democratic motion to send a bill back to committee. The motion would have required ICE agents to wear body cameras, remove their masks, show a badge and get a judge's warrant. In April, she voted for a final bill that became law. It included $20 million for body cameras but did not ban masks ¹.

Trump's own words

Trump has endorsed Salazar for reelection ⁴. But WLRN reports that after the ad aired, he reposted posts attacking her, including one calling her a "back stabber." Trump said he "understands what she is saying" and still supports her, while drawing a line between them ⁵.

I'm very strong on the borders, and she isn't.

That matters because the debate over the ad is happening inside Trump's own party. His complaint is not that Salazar funded the crackdown. It is that she is now criticizing it.

Why this race matters

Florida's 27th District runs from Little Havana down the coast to Cutler Bay and west into Kendall. WLRN reports that the race has become more competitive, and that poll watchers have acknowledged it. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made it a top target ⁵.

Many voters in the district are from Cuban, Venezuelan and other immigrant communities ³. "The bigger picture is keeping control of the House," NBC 6 political analyst Alex Penelas said ³.

The pattern is a familiar one in the final days of a campaign. A lawmaker votes for a policy, the policy becomes unpopular at home, and the ad criticizes the very policy the votes paid for. The roll call is still on the record ².

The Record

1. Jul 3, 2025The House passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 218-214, with Salazar voting yes. PolitiFact says it gave ICE about $75 billion ²¹.
2. Sep 17, 2026Salazar released an ad telling Trump that some of his immigration enforcement efforts had gone too far ³⁴.
3. Sep 27, 2026Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez said Salazar was trying to distance herself from immigration policies she had supported ⁶.
4. Oct 27, 2026PolitiFact found a robocall saying Salazar voted for everything Trump wanted on immigration to be largely accurate, but missing context on body cameras ¹.

Sources

1. PolitiFact, “A robocall said Maria Elvira Salazar 'voted for everything Trump wanted' on immigration. Is it true?” (2026-10-27). politifact.com/article/2026/oct/27/robocall-salazar-florida-
2. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, “Roll Call 190: H.R. 1, On Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment” (2025-07-03). clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025190
3. NBC 6 South Florida, “Salazar breaks with Trump on immigration in new campaign ad, fueling questions about key District 27 race” (2026-09-17). nbcmiami.com/news/politics/local-politics/maria-elvira-salaz
4. Fox News, “'Gone too far:' GOP candidate runs to Trump's left on signature issue in deep red district” (2026-09-17). foxnews.com/politics/gone-too-far-gop-candidate-runs-trumps-
5. WLRN, “Two former news anchors, one seat: Inside the tightening race for Florida's 27th District” (2026-10-05). wlrn.org/light/government-politics/2026-10-05/eliott-rodrigu
6. CBS Miami, “Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez blasts Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar for recent Trump ad” (2026-09-27). cbsnews.com/miami/news/eliott-rodriguez-maria-elvira-salazar

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