3 House Republicans from Florida with Cuban roots carefully navigate Trump's immigration policies
MIAMI — A few dozen women gathered at a posh Miami brewery on a recent evening to listen to U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart outline the Republican plans to retain their slim House majority in next year's elections.
In an hour of remarks, Diaz-Balart did not bring up immigration on his own.
Diaz-Balart is one of three House Republicans in South Florida with roots in Cuba. Together, they are treading carefully in discussing President Trump's immigration offensive, which includes directly targeting some Cubans and Venezuelans, key parts of the GOP's base in Florida.
Democrats are targeting at least one of these lawmakers, zeroing in on U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar's district as a possible House seat they could flip next year.
Miami Democrats set up a billboard on a heavily traveled expressway showing the three House members and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator who is also of Cuban descent, with the label 'traitors.'
Diaz-Balart, Salazar and Rep. Carlos Gimenez have defended Trump despite the president's efforts to eliminate protections that allow hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, Cubans, and other migrants to live and work legally in the United States.
Last November, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate since 1988 to win Miami-Dade County, the metropolitan area with the highest share of immigrants in the country. While Republicans believe the rightward shift among Latinos indicates support for stricter border restrictions and mass deportations, Democrats think such measures may backfire on these lawmakers if these restrictions hit too close to home.
In his recent visit with Republican women, and after not mentioning immigration, one of the few questions Diaz-Balart fielded was about temporary protections to Venezuelans, which Trump is trying to end. Diaz-Balart justified Trump's actions, saying the president was doing 'exactly what he said he was going to do.'
'We have a lot of friends who are in this situation, and they have no way to adjust,' said Milena Mitraud, a lawyer who asked the question.
Here's a closer look at the three lawmakers:
Salazar, 63, has been perhaps the most vocal of the three, saying Trump must not eliminate some of the immigration protections that are popular among Miami residents, specifically advocating for Cubans and some Venezuelans. A federal judge recently intervened to block the Trump administration from ending temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. After the judge's ruling, Salazar gave Trump — not the judge — credit for 'doing the right thing.'
Salazar has blamed Democratic President Biden for creating a system under which Cubans were no longer being allowed to apply for legal residency a year after arriving in the U.S. under the Cuban Adjustment Act. She said she has put pressure on the new administration to stop arresting those Cubans who were allowed under that system and said she intervened and secured the release of a nursing student.
She made the argument that she is pushing for immigration changes — anathema to much of the Republican base nationally — in a video she posted to X only in Spanish.
'We are the only ones in Congress who are helping you,' she said. 'We're trying to make that piece of trash paper the Biden administration gave them so that they can receive parole and then benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act.'
The former broadcaster recently agreed with a Univision anchor that she was 'the only Republican' trying to work on immigration changes. She talked about a 'new dawn' in saying that Trump would be as effective on immigration as Republican President Reagan was in countering the Soviet threat.
'Things are changing,' she said. 'President Trump has said that those illegals who are criminals should leave, and I agree. They should be kicked out. But the lady who has been here cleaning for 10, 15, 20 years, or the one who is picking tomatoes, or the one who is picking oranges, or the one who is peeling potatoes in a New York restaurant, we must give them dignity.'
Salazar, in an opinion column for the Miami Herald on Friday, defended her record on immigration in response to a letter by a Cuban American healthcare businessman published in the newspaper. The former GOP political donor accused Salazar, Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Rubio of 'complicity and cowardice' in the face of Trump's 'cruelty toward immigrants.'
'I don't belong in any letter calling out inaction. I've been on the battlefield in Congress, willing to take the political risk and lead the charge,' she wrote.
Diaz-Balart, 63, joined Salazar and Gimenez releasing a joint statement after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she was revoking deportation protections for Venezuelans. The lawmakers said they stood in solidarity with Venezuelans, who may be persecuted or oppressed if deported to their native country.
'The Venezuelan people have endured repression, corruption, and human rights abuses for far too long in Venezuela, and it is still not safe for many to return,' the joint statement said.
But the dean of the Florida congressional delegation has mostly defended Trump's actions, blamed Biden for allowing record-high numbers of immigrants into the U.S. and claimed many migrants who arrived during the Biden administration are criminals. Studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans, but some immigrants in the U.S. illegally have been convicted in recent murder cases that gained notoriety during the campaign.
When meeting with Republican women in Miami this month, Diaz-Balart told them he is working with the administration to create a 'process' to screen people who come from countries where it is more likely they would have a legitimate case of asylum. He said that while working on that, they have asked to allow those who are already here and are not a threat to the public to remain in the country. But he was still critical of those who are arriving illegally.
Gimenez, 71, a former mayor of Miami-Dade County, has defended Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration while expressing solidarity with those Venezuelans who receive temporary legal protections.
But the Cuban-born congressman has gone a step further in proposing cutting off remittances and halting all travel to and from Cuba. That would impact many of those who have arrived more recently who have relatives living on the island.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Gimenez said there could be limited exceptions authorized by the State Department.
'The murderous dictatorship in Cuba is on life-support,' he said in the letter. 'The regime cannot even keep the lights on. And America must stand with the Cuban people to topple this pathetic gang once and for all.'
In a statement, Gimenez's spokesman Roberto Lugones said the lawmaker believes these actions eliminate Cuba's revenue streams while 'supporting the brave Cuban people in their quest for freedom.' Regarding immigration protections, Gimenez wants cases to be decided on an individual basis.
'Congressman Gimenez supports a case-by-case solution for exiles with legitimate political asylum claims who are stuck in immigration limbo due to Joe Biden's incoherent and reckless open-border policies,' the statement said.
Licon writes for the Associated Press.
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