U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One, en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., following a two-day visit to Ireland, September 13, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
On Thursday, a Republican representative in Florida released a campaign ad declaring, in no uncertain terms, that President Donald Trump has “gone too far.” So says Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who looked directly into the camera to break with Trump over one of his administration’s top priorities.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” declared Salazar, whose district went to Trump in 2024 by +15 points. “In July, 50 percent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisors are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today. You can be for immigration when Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism. I'm not talking about giving them amnesty. 'm talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land. I am Maria Elvira Salazar, and I approve this message. Thank you.”
This is a major blow to the already fragile image of unity Republicans have been struggling to maintain as division over Trump’s unpopular policies has grown, and this isn’t the first time Salazar has revealed her dissatisfaction with the president. In August, she took to social media to lambast Trump’s “scheme” with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, whom she called an “acting dictator.” According to Salazar, Trump’s deal to bring Venezuelan oil to the U.S. ignored “rule of law.” She deleted the post a few hours later, suddenly posting praise for the plan. But judging by her new ad, she’s done putting on a show.
Her break with Trump comes at a moment when there is growing discontent among Republican lawmakers who see the midterm polls and recognize that the president is killing their already poor electoral chances. In recent weeks, several GOP candidates – even those with strong MAGA credentials – have removed Trump’s name from their campaign materials. Polling has shown not only that Democrats have a strong lead over Republicans on a generic midterm ballot, but that Trump and the GOP are underwater even on their typically strongest issues, like immigration and the economy.
Salazar’s claim that half of those detained by ICE has plenty of supporting evidence. In fact, studies have shown that it may be worse than she says. According to the conservative libertarian think tank the CATO Institute, during Trump’s first year of mass deportations, of those detained, 73 percent had no criminal conviction, only 5 percent had a violent criminal conviction, and the majority of those who did have criminal records had either vice, immigration or traffic convictions. This is despite Trump’s claims that he was deporting the “worst of the worst.”