Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar—who is seeking reelection and gained national attention for criticizing President Donald Trump’s deportation policies—stated on Thursday that the president will sign a bill to provide legal status to certain migrants.
The Miami lawmaker, who is of Cuban descent and faces one of the most competitive races in the upcoming November 3rd midterm elections, asserted that Trump will back the “Dignity Act”—a bill she is promoting to provide legal status to immigrants without criminal records who work in key economic sectors—though the proposal does not include a path to citizenship.
“It’s simple; the president understands it. I know that discussions are underway, and in the next two years—before the president leaves the White House—there will be an immigration reform that resolves a 40-year-old problem. If anyone can do it, it’s Trump; you know him,” she remarked following an event in Miami.
The U.S. Representative for Florida’s 27th District drew national attention after a campaign ad in September in which she told the president that his “immigration policy has gone too far,” adding that “the very Hispanics who helped put him in the White House now feel betrayed.”
Trump labeled her “soft” and insisted that he would maintain a “firm” stance, but Salazar later claimed she had spoken with him and that he appeared “receptive.”
“Well, it’s not that I convinced him; the president is an intelligent man. He knows that 20% of this country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) relies on five industries that depend on a labor-intensive workforce—a large portion of which lacks legal documentation,” the lawmaker explained. Salazar’s opponent, Democrat Elliott Rodríguez—who is also of Cuban origin and a former television presenter—has accused her of being “complicit” in Trump’s policies.
However, at an event hosted by Miami’s Community News at Casa Cuba, she defended her “Dignity Act” proposal—a bipartisan bill designed to provide legal status to immigrants with no criminal records who work in sectors such as construction, agriculture, healthcare, hospitality, and the food industry.
“There is a piece of legislation—the Dignity Act, which I am introducing—that takes a balanced, ‘Solomonic’ approach: it does not grant citizenship, but it does allow individuals to remain in the country under a ‘Dignity’ visa,” she noted.
The controversy intensified on October 1, when “border czar” Tom Homan stated in South Florida that deportations would increase by 2027, following a record 200,000 immigration-related arrests over the previous four months.
Salazar, who represents a district with a high concentration of voters of Cuban origin, also promised that Trump would bring about change on the island, though she offered no further details.
