Latest news with #LatinasforTrump
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Latinas for Trump founder now condemns White House deportation agenda: ‘Not what we voted for'
A Republican state lawmaker in Florida who founded Latinas for Trump condemned the administration's sweeping immigration arrests across the state despite the president's months-long campaign that promised the largest 'mass deportation operation' in American history. 'This is not what we voted for,' state Sen. Ileana Garcia said in a statement Saturday. 'I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.' She said her Cuban-refugee parents 'are now just as American, if not more so, than Stephen Miller,' among the architects of Trump's anti-immigration agenda demanding 3,000 daily immigration arrests. 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings — in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims — all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,' she wrote. 'This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,' Garcia added. Her remarks follow arrests across the country targeting immigrants at work sites and inside courthouses, sparking widespread outrage and protests accusing the administration of targeting immigrants who were following the law. But her statements — coming from the Miami-area lawmaker with a years-long history with the president — seemingly ignore Trump's countless campaign promises of a 'mass deportation operation' and years of warnings from immigrant advocates who cautioned against these exact scenarios playing out across the country. Garcia has supported Trump since his first campaign in 2016 and created Latinas for Trump to rally Hispanic women behind the president. She also served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term. Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to combat what he called an 'invasion' of undocumented immigrants who are 'poisoning the blood of our country,' relying on stories of violent crime to support a brutal crackdown that could impact millions of families. Trump repeatedly promised to arrest, detain and deport people living in the country without legal permission as part of his 'day one' agenda. He first pledged to 'carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history' nearly two years ago. 'Lawless mobs of unscreened unvetted illegal alien migrants are stampeding across our border by the millions and millions, including hordes of criminals, terrorists, human traffickers, child smugglers, gang members and inmates emptied out of their prisons and insane asylums and mental institutions,' Trump said in Iowa in September 2023. 'It's actually worse than that,' he added. 'This is an invasion and I'm one candidate who from day one knows exactly how to stop it.' In office, the president rescinded immigration enforcement policy limiting arrests in sensitive locations like courthouses, workplaces, schools, hospitals and places of worship, or at events like funerals, weddings and public demonstrations. Homeland Security officials have also revoked humanitarian protections for roughly 1 million people with temporary legal status — including thousands of people from Venezuela and Cuba, which have large populations in Florida, whose support for the president helped deliver him the state in 2024 elections. Now, thousands of people in those communities have lost protected status, making them vulnerable to immediate removal from the United States. In a recent survey of hundreds of Florida Venezuelans, Florida International University's Latino Public Opinion Forum found roughly 80 percent of respondents — half of whom are U.S. citizen voters — said the administration's rescission of temporary protected status for Venezuelans is unjust. Public criticism from one of Trump's longtime supporters arrived one day after another Republican lawmaker in Florida spoke out against the administration's immigration enforcement. Republican state Rep. Elvira Salazar said people navigating the nation's byzantine immigration system — including their pending asylum claims or green card petitions — deserve to 'go through the legal process.' The Cuban-American state lawmaker said she is 'heartbroken' about the 'uncertainty' gripping her district. Courthouse arrests and the termination of temporary protected status for tens of thousands of immigrants 'all jeopardize our duty to due process that every democracy must guarantee,' Salazar said. After taking office, the president issued an executive order that greenlights fast-track deportation proceedings for immigrants who cannot prove that they have continuously lived in the United States for more than two years. That 'expedited removal' process — historically used at the U.S.-Mexico border — is now being expanded across the country, with masked federal agents standing outside courtrooms to arrest immigrants moments after their immigration cases are dismissed. The American Immigration Lawyers Association says courthouse arrests are a 'flagrant betrayal of basic fairness and due process' for people who are simply following the rules. 'Immigration courts are being weaponized, judges are coordinating with ICE to dismiss cases and immediately funnel individuals into the fast-track deportation pipeline known as expedited removal,' the group said in a statement. 'These are not fugitives. They are individuals, many who are seeking protection from torture in their countries, complying with the law.'
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Latinas For Trump Co-Founder Rips Trump Immigration Policies As ‘Unacceptable And Inhumane'
A Republican Florida state senator who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump is condemning and distancing herself from President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies, calling them '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 Saturday. Garcia, whose district of Miami-Dade County is overwhelmingly Hispanic or Latino and voted for Trump during the last election, said she sides with Trump's efforts to target immigrants who are criminals, but said his targeting of those seeking lawful citizenship is unjust. 'This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,' she wrote, while expressing support for fellow Miami Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who similarly condemned Trump's actions on Friday. Rep. Salazar was promptly attacked by Trump supporters on social media after expressing upset over immigrants being arrested or deported while going through the immigration courts. '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, which led to calls on social media for her being voted out in the next primary election. In a follow-up post on Sunday, Garcia said she has 'faith' that 'President Trump will do what's just for those seeking freedom and upward mobility.' Garcia was first elected to the Senate in 2020 and established the Trump support group in 2016, according to the Miami Herald. In an interview with the Herald that year, she said she had been a supporter of Trump 'from the start.' 'I think he's funny,' Garcia said. 'I don't have a problem with the things he says. I see right through him.' Protests Intensify In Los Angeles After Trump Deploys Hundreds Of National Guard Troops 'It's Entrapment': ICE Accused Of Detaining Immigrants In Court Building Overnight During Routine Check-Ins Kristi Noem Said An Immigrant Threatened To Kill Trump. The Story Quickly Fell Apart.
USA Today
12 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
'Unacceptable and inhumane': Latinas for Trump founder blasts immigration arrests
'Unacceptable and inhumane': Latinas for Trump founder blasts immigration arrests Former deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term and co-founder of Latinas for Trump criticizes recent immigration actions. Show Caption Hide Caption National Guard and protesters clash over ICE raids Hundreds of demonstrators fought back with the National Guard and local authorities as ICE protests escalated. WASHINGTON – Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump, criticized President Donald Trump's recent immigration enforcement actions as 'unacceptable and inhumane' in a social media post. Her remarks come as federal agents have arrested immigrants in courthouses across the United States, including in Florida, stripping them of due process protections, as NBC News reported. Family members and pro-immigration advocates have said that in some of the arrests, immigration judges dropped active cases against migrants, potentially expediting the deportation process. The Trump administration's crackdown on immigration enforcement spurred protests in Los Angeles, in which some demonstrators hurled large chunks of broken concrete at officers, slashed tires and defaced buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On June 7, Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops deployed to the region over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens," Garcia, who served as the deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term, wrote in a tweet on June 7. "But what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings – in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims – all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,' she said, referring to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. "This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value." She added that she stood with Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who also denounced Trump's actions. '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 wrote in a statement on June 6. Salazar said she would meet with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week, along with Florida Republican Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, to "personally explain the dire situation unfolding in South Florida." Contributing: Reuters
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Latinas for Trump co-founder blasts ‘inhumane' immigrant arrests
Florida state senator Ileana Garcia (R), co-founder of Latinas for Trump, issued a sharp rebuke of President Trump on Sunday as his administration seeks to ramp up deportations and other actions against undocumented immigrants. Garcia took particular issue with reported tactics in southern Florida, where immigration officials have allegedly been making arrests in immigration courts and taking other steps to target individuals otherwise in compliance with legal orders. 'This is not what we voted for,' Garcia wrote in a post on X. 'I have always supported Trump, @realDonaldTrump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.' 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings—in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims—all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,' she continued in her post, referring to White House homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. 'This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,' Garcia added. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Garcia's comments followed criticism from Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who issued a statement saying she's 'fully aware' of and 'heartbroken… because of the recent immigration actions of the administration.' She said the administration's actions have 'left thousands exposed to deportation' and jeopardized 'our duty to due process that every democracy must guarantee.' Salazar said anyone with a pending asylum claim 'deserves to go through the legal process,' noting that, 'It is an indisputable fact' that most of these claims come from people who fled Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which Salazar noted are 'the three most brutal regimes in our hemisphere and sworn enemies of the United States.' 'I wholeheartedly agree that the administration must kick out every criminal here illegally, just as President Trump promised. Many still remain, and we should keep our focus on them,' Salazar added, noting that she plans to meet with administration officials this coming week. Garcia issued her statement in response to Salazar's remarks, saying, 'I stand with Congresswoman Salazar.' 'As the state senator who represents her district and the daughter of Cuban refugees, who are now just as American, if not more so than Stephen Miller, I am deeply disappointed by these actions. And I will not stand down,' Garcia wrote.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Inhumane:' Latinas for Trump founder condemns White House immigration crackdown
A Miami Republican who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump is condemning President Donald Trump's mass-deportation campaign and blasting recent immigration enforcement actions as harmful. 'This is not what we voted for,' State Sen. Ileana Garcia said in a statement on Saturday. 'I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.' The public remarks from one of Trump's longtime supporters come as the president's immigration policies cause stress and uncertainty in South Florida. Trump's executive orders and the Department of Homeland Security's actions have targeted hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the region, including Cubans and Venezuelans — communities that threw their support behind Trump during the November election, helping him win Miami-Dade County. As top White House aide Stephen Miller reportedly demands 3,000 immigration arrests a day, federal agents in Miami and across the U.S. are swooping into courthouses to detain people and place them in quick deportation proceedings that don't require a judge. With Trump casting a wider immigration-enforcement net, Latino Republicans in South Florida are balancing their support for the White House and their constituents. Next week, Miami's GOP delegation in Washington is slated to meet with Trump's Homeland Security secretary. READ MORE: ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings—in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims—all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal. This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,' said Garcia. Garcia criticized Miller, widely considered the architect of Trump's immigration agenda. She said in the statement that her parents, Cuban refugees, 'are now just as American, if not more so than Stephen Miller.' 'I will not back down. I am committed to being vocal and proactive in seeking real solutions, not engaging in grandstanding like Stephen Miller,' she told the Miami Herald over text. Garcia's statement came a day after GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar — a strong Trump supporter whose district Garcia represents in Tallahassee — made her own public declarations about the federal immigration agenda. In a separate statement, Salazar said that people navigating their immigration cases, like pending asylum or green card petitions, deserved to 'go through the legal process.' Salazar, who is Cuban-American, described herself a proud Republican and said that the administration must fulfill President Trump's promises to 'kick out every criminal here illegally.' But she said the 'uncertainty' in her largely-Hispanic district had left her 'heartbroken' and said recent measures threatened due process. 'I will always stand with justice and with our community,' Salazar wrote on X. Salazar said that the Miami delegation in Congress, which includes Reps. Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart, will be meeting with Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem next week. The lawmakers have been requesting a meeting with Noem for weeks. Garcia has supported Trump since his first bid for the office in 2016 and created Latinas for Trump to rally Hispanic women behind the president. She also served as a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term in office. On Saturday, Garcia said over text that she hoped to meet with the president, who she described as sympathetic to Cuban political refugees from Cuba and immigrants who came to the United States as children. 'While I stand by my support for him, I will call out harmful actions when necessary,' she said. 'And finally, this isn't about regrets; I have none. It's about addressing issues directly and taking responsibility.'
