GOP lawmaker who posted anti-deportation ad says Trump was ‘very receptive’ during phone call
by Susan Ferrechio · The Washington TimesA House Republican from South Florida said she told President Trump that his advisers are “compromising his legacy” on immigration in a call to discuss her ad denouncing his mass deportation policies.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said Mr. Trump was “very receptive” in a call that followed her bombshell ad breaking with the president on illegal immigrant deportations.
“It was a very good conversation. He was a gentleman, very courteous, very receptive,” Ms. Salazar told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
She warned the president “that some of his advisers are compromising his legacy” by pushing mass deportation of immigrants who are longstanding members of their communities and have not committed violations other than entering the country illegally.
Ms. Salazar’s video ad, posted last week, sent shock waves through the GOP. Standing in front of the White House, she delivered a stark message: “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House feel betrayed today.”
Polls show that the president and Republicans are hemorrhaging Hispanic support to the Democrats and this is impacting critical House and Senate races in the midterm elections.
Mr. Trump campaigned on the promise of carrying out the largest mass deportation in history, a move meant to counter massive illegal immigration during President Joseph R. Biden’s term. Nearly a million people have been deported, among them hundreds of thousands removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Meanwhile, Hispanic support for Mr. Trump and Republicans has collapsed. Polls show Hispanic voters are unhappy with the president’s handling of the economy and immigration.
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Ms. Salazar, whose parents fled communist Cuba for Miami, said she told Mr. Trump to “preserve” the historic support from Hispanic voters he won in the 2024 elections. “Because we need to continue winning elections,” she said.
Ms. Salazar is sponsoring legislation that would pair strict immigration reforms, including E-Verify for businesses, with provisions allowing certain illegal immigrants who arrived here as children the opportunity to become permanent legal residents.
She said she told Mr. Trump that he could “fix this mess” and reform immigration.
“He’s the only person, because he gets it. He’s a businessman and he has the political ability to convince both parties to vote for this legislation or any immigration reform,” she said.
Ms. Salazar described the phone call with Mr. Trump as “a fantastic conversation” and said “I certainly hope he listened to what I was saying, but he listened.”
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She said her ad was not an attack on the president but is “forewarning him and advising him as a member of Congress from the South Florida area that some of his advisers are just not presenting the whole picture.”
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Susan Ferrechio
sferrechio@washingtontimes.com
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