A Republican Florida state senator who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump is now speaking out against President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies, denouncing them as “unacceptable and inhumane.”
“This is not what we voted for. I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane,” Sen. Ileana Garcia said in a statement on Saturday.
Garcia, whose district of Miami-Dade County is predominantly Hispanic or Latino and supported Trump in the last election, expressed her disagreement with Trump’s actions targeting immigrants seeking lawful citizenship, while acknowledging the importance of targeting criminal immigrants.
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“This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,” she wrote, showing support for fellow Miami Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who also criticized Trump’s actions.
Rep. Salazar faced backlash from Trump supporters on social media after expressing her concerns about immigrants facing deportation while going through legal processes.
“I remain clear in my position: anyone with a pending asylum case, status-adjustment petition, or similar claim deserves to go through the legal process,” Salazar said in a statement, leading to calls for her removal in the next primary election.
In a follow-up post on Sunday, Garcia expressed her “faith” in President Trump’s commitment to justice for those seeking freedom and upward mobility.
Garcia, who was elected to the Senate in 2020 and co-founded the Trump support group in 2016, has shifted her stance on Trump’s immigration policies.
In an interview with the Miami Herald in 2016, Garcia had praised Trump’s humor but now stands against his actions targeting immigrants.
