Somebody check on Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, porque la muchacha might be having what the kids call a moment.
In recent days, it appears that the congresswoman from Miami’s District 27 has seen the light — or the polling — and broke ranks with Dear Leader Donald Trump over his Thanksgiving social media screed against all immigrants in a statement so sharp it could slice through the lechón later this month.
In a statement to The Miami Herald, Salazar blasted the Trump administration’s brand-new, sweeping immigration crackdown as “un-American.”
Yes, you read that right. “Un-American.” From a Cuban-American Republican in Miami. One of the four “traitors” that have abandoned their immigrant communities. About Trump.
Ay, Dios.
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Last week, the Department of Homeland Security rolled out one of the harshest immigration restrictions in recent history: a permanent pause” — as in paralysis— of all immigration applications from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and 16 other “high-risk” countries.
Green cards? Frozen. Citizenship ceremonies? Canceled. Pending asylum claims? Stuck in legal limbo otra vez.
Trump announced this sweeping immigration crackdown in response to the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, allegedly by an Afghan man. His solution? Punish an entire hemisphere.
And María Elvira, suddenly channeling her inner Emma Lazarus — the poet who wrote the words on the Statue of Liberty — said nope. “Freezing asylum, green card, and citizenship processes is not the answer. It punishes hardworking, law-abiding immigrants who followed every step of the legal process. That is unfair, un-American, and it goes against everything this country stands for.”
She even dared call it what it is: collective punishment.
Your tía Ladra had to sit down for that one. Because while this is absolutely true, it’s also coming from someone who has spent the last year defending Trump’s immigration agenda like it was the Ark of the Covenant.
Meanwhile, she made the statement directly to the Herald and not on her busy social media feeds, where she has remained silent on the issue and has even praised Trump for his stance on Venezuela and taking out dictator Nicolas Maduro.
At least it’s better than what the other guys have done.
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María Elvira’s compañeros in the Cuban-American GOP trio — Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez — released a joint statement that could have been written by Stephen Miller himself.
Instead of criticizing the Trump freeze, they blamed (say it with me) Joe Biden.
According to them, this is all the consequence of the Biden administration’s “reckless abandonment of border security.” They applauded the pause as part of Trump “restoring order” and “strengthening vetting.”
Never mind that this pause cancels citizenship ceremonies for abuelitas who have been waiting years. Or that asylum backlogs in Miami are already longer than the cafecito line at Versailles. Never mind that panic is brewing instead. Again.
Immigration attorneys are reporting chaos. Naturalization ceremonies abruptly canceled. Asylum interviews postponed indefinitely. Families from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela — many who lost TPS and parole protections this year — are right back in la incertidumbre.
This community has lived through enough insecurity. But Trump’s new directive throws them off a cliff.
Which is exactly why María Elvira spoke out, según ella. Or… is she just reading the room?
Read related: Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar signs books, dodges questions, and sells “Dignity”
María Elvira Salazar signed copies of her book in Coral Gables last month
María Elvira has voted with Trump. Defended Trump. Campaigned with Trump. And pushed her DIGNITY Act — and her $30 book that comes with it — as the “serious, workable solution” while Trump was salivating over mass deportations. If she didn’t like his immigration policies, she hid it better than a stash of pastelitos in the newsroom fridge.
But now that Trump’s policies are directly freezing out Cuban, Venezuelan, and Haitian voters — her voters — suddenly the congresswoman has found her voice.
Qué casualidad.
Don’t get Ladra wrong. It’s good that María Elvira is finally speaking up. Courage, even late, is still courage.
Unless it’s cover. Because timing is everything. And this sudden spine appears right as the political winds in Miami shift, as immigrants panic, and as her own reelection battle looms on the horizon.
Richard Lamondin, one of the Democrats hoping to unseat her next year, questioned the congresswoman’s sudden moral clarity.
“Salazar spent years enabling Trump’s attacks on immigrants… She’s scrambling to distance herself because it’s become unpopular,” he said. “She’s as much to blame as the administration that created these policies.”
In other words: María Elvira didn’t break with Trump. She broke with bad optics.
Still, Ladra says welcome to the fight, congresswoman. Qué bueno que llegaste.
Now let’s see if you stick around when Trump barks back.
The post Maria Elvira Salazar’s immigration epiphany: Is it just late or performative? appeared first on Political Cortadito.
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