U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar is airing a campaign ad in Florida's 27th Congressional District that directly criticizes President Trump's immigration enforcement, arguing his crackdown has gone too far even as she runs for re-election in a district Trump carried by roughly 15 points in 2024. The Miami Republican says half of the roughly 50,000 people ICE detained in July had no criminal record, and she is warning that Hispanic voters who helped put Trump in the White House now feel betrayed.
Salazar has represented FL-27 since flipping the seat in 2020, and she won re-election by 20 percentage points in November 2024, according to WLRN. As reported by Creative Loafing Tampa, Salazar's new ad urges Trump to be careful about advice from his immigration policy advisers, and she says she is advocating for what she calls a dignified life for immigrants rather than amnesty. The district she represents is 74% Hispanic, according to census records cited in that report.
A District Trump Won, But Not by a Landslide Everywhere
Florida's 27th Congressional District has been represented by Salazar since 2020, according to CNN. The district is in Miami-Dade County, and its electorate includes Republicans, Democrats, and independents, per La Nación. That mix keeps independent voters central to both campaigns' strategies heading into November.
The timing lines up with a national enforcement surge: ICE detained roughly 51,000 people nationwide in August 2026, the highest monthly total recorded under the second Trump administration, per the same CNN report. Days before that report, an unannounced inspection by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found Miami's Krome North Service Processing Center — located in Miami, Florida — operating 25% over capacity, holding 1,102 detainees in a facility rated for 882, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General.
The Dignity Act as Salazar's Counterweight
Salazar has leaned on her bipartisan Dignity Act, reintroduced in July 2025 as H.R. 4393 with 40 original co-sponsors, as evidence she favors reform over blanket crackdowns, according to her congressional office. The bill, co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, would let undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for more than five years work, pay restitution, and earn legal status, and it would grant DACA recipients conditional permanent resident status for 10 years — without access to federal means-tested benefits or entitlements, per Creative Loafing Tampa's report. Some conservatives have denounced the measure as amnesty, though Salazar insists she is advocating what she calls a dignified life for immigrants, not amnesty.
The Dignity Act combines border security enforcement, mandatory E-Verify, and a legal path to stability for long-term undocumented residents, according to Salazar's House office. The Dignity Act has been presented as a countermeasure to aggressive ICE deportation policies, amid a Nebraska congressman's own break with ICE tactics.
A Rematch Between Two Familiar Faces
Salazar's Democratic challenger this fall is Eliott Rodriguez, a former CBS Miami news anchor who secured the Democratic nomination in the August 18, 2026 primary with 54% of the vote over Robin Peguero, according to Local 10 News. Salazar, for her part, won her Republican primary that same day with 81% of the vote over V. Michael Arias. Both candidates are former South Florida broadcast news anchors born to Cuban parents — Rodriguez spent decades at CBS Miami, while Salazar built her career in Spanish-language television — a coincidence Local 10 News has highlighted as a defining feature of the race.
Salazar had a stronger campaign-finance position than Rodriguez, while Rodriguez had less financial backing in the race. Hoodline first flagged Rodriguez as a potential contender back in February, before he formally entered and won the primary.
Despite Salazar's financial edge and the district's Republican lean under Trump, her willingness to publicly break with the president on immigration enforcement signals how competitive South Florida's Hispanic vote remains. Salazar's ad and her remarks urging caution around Trump's immigration advisers have drawn coverage.
