Republican Congresswoman Slams Trump’s Immigration Policy
Donald Trump’s move to end deportation protections of Venezuelan immigrants has upset one Republican member of Congress.
Representative María Elvira Salazar told CNN Wednesday that her message to the White House was that “we have to make a differentiation between the Tren de Aragua and those Venezuelans who came in through the TPS.”
The Florida representative was referring to a notorious Venezuelan criminal gang and the Temporary Protected Status designation given to certain immigrant groups who can’t return to their home countries due to safety concerns. She added that she hoped that the Trump administration would come to an understanding regarding the 600,000 Venezuelans whose TPS protections expire later this year, many of whom live in her district.
“These are not illegals. This is not Tren de Aragua or MS-13. These are good people who came, and we welcome them, and I’m sure they’re gonna be able to stay,” Salazar said.
Salazar on Venezuelan immigrants in her district who are now at risk of deportation because of new Trump policies: "These are not illegals. This is not Tren de Aragua of MS-13. These are good people who came and we welcome them and I'm sure they're gonna be able to stay." pic.twitter.com/742YC0HzdC— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 26, 2025
The Trump administration announced earlier this month that TPS would be revoked for Venezuelans, even though U.S. policy calls the current socialist Venezuelan leadership illegitimate. Last week, however, immigrant rights groups filed two lawsuits in California and Maryland challenging the revocation of status.
Trump’s desire to speed up mass deportations of undocumented, and, in this case, temporarily protected immigrants seems to be running into real-world challenges. In the case of Venezuela, Trump on Wednesday announced that he was revoking a Biden-era deal to produce oil in Venezuela due to the country’s failure to assist in accepting deportees.
That may complicate matters further and put Venezuelans in the United States in an uncertain holding pattern. But Trump doesn’t have a history of looking out for the well-being of immigrants in the U.S., and Salazar may find her pleas falling on deaf ears in the White House.
