- Maria Elvira Salazar warned Trump his immigration enforcement had gone too far in a campaign ad released Thursday.
- She cited July data showing 50 percent of 50,000 detainees had no criminal record.
- Trump hit back Friday, saying Salazar had got a little bit soft on the border.
Maria Elvira Salazar used a campaign ad Thursday to warn President Donald Trump that his immigration enforcement efforts had “gone too far,” turning a Republican re-election message into a public challenge to the administration’s approach.
The ad, released Thursday, September 17, 2026, focused on Hispanic voters in South Florida. Salazar said the warning was aimed at Trump, not intended as an attack on him.
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She cited detention figures from July. “In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record,” she said.
The claim referred to Customs Enforcement detainees. Salazar argued that the administration’s deportation efforts were reaching people without criminal convictions.
Trump answered the next day from the Oval Office. He said Salazar had “got a little bit soft on the border” and questioned whether she could have won without his backing.
“Maria won only because of me,” Trump said. He also said, “I disagree with her,” while describing himself as “very strong on the borders.”
The ad targets voters Trump needs in South Florida
Salazar represents Florida’s 27th Congressional District, a heavily Hispanic seat that Trump won. Its Hispanic population has been described as about 73.5% and 74%.
She is seeking re-election against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez. The campaign is airing the ad on television in the Miami market and online across South Florida.
Salazar said the voters who supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election now feel abandoned by his immigration policy.
“The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”
She also cautioned the president about the advice he receives. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy,” she said.
The message puts Salazar in a difficult position. She is challenging the enforcement strategy while preserving her support for Trump’s broader political coalition.
Salazar paired the warning with a call for a dignified life
The congresswoman urged Trump to draw from Presidents Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan when shaping immigration policy. She said people living in the United States should be treated with dignity.
Salazar separately rejected the idea that her position amounted to support for amnesty.
“I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”
Her argument is narrower than a call to end enforcement. She said the administration should reconsider how it applies that enforcement, particularly when detainees have no criminal record.
That framing allows her to criticize the crackdown without abandoning the Republican emphasis on border control. The ad describes itself as a warning to the president rather than a full break with him.
The campaign is running the message across the Miami market
Trump’s response mixed criticism with personal praise. He called Salazar “a nice person” and said, “I understand that, but I just don’t happen to be there.”
He also said she “wouldn’t have won without his endorsement.” The comments linked the immigration dispute to Salazar’s dependence on Trump’s political support.
Salazar’s campaign is now asking voters to judge that support against the administration’s treatment of immigrants. Her district gives the argument a specific electoral setting rather than a national platform alone.
The seat’s Hispanic share, estimated at about 73.5% in one account and 74% in another, makes the audience central to the ad’s strategy. Salazar is presenting immigration policy as a risk to Trump’s standing among those voters.
The clash sets up a midterm test for Trump’s enforcement agenda
The exchange exposes a tension between Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda and Hispanic voters in Florida ahead of the midterms. Salazar’s intervention comes from inside the president’s party and from a district where Hispanic voters make up roughly three-quarters of the electorate.
Trump has not adopted Salazar’s warning. He defended his border position while saying she had moved away from it.
The dispute now gives Rodriguez a clear contrast to press in the race: Salazar is questioning the administration’s enforcement tactics while continuing to invoke Lincoln, Reagan and a “dignified life” for people in the country.
Trump responded on Friday, September 18, 2026, one day after the ad began airing. The campaign’s argument will remain tied to whether Hispanic voters who backed him in 2024 accept his enforcement policy or Salazar’s warning that it has gone too far.
