Rep. Salazar Says Trump Was 'Very Receptive' in Call After Her ICE Ad; Trump Said Publicly He Disagrees With Her
The Florida Republican told CBS on Sept. 20 that Trump listened courteously to her warning that immigration enforcement is costing the GOP Hispanic voters, two days after Trump told reporters he is "very strong on the borders, and she isn't."
A Call, and a Public Contradiction
Rep. María Elvira Salazar told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sept. 20 that she'd talked to President Trump by phone about immigration enforcement, and that he'd taken it well. He was "a gentleman, very courteous, very receptive," she said[1][2]. It was the kind of line a member of Congress uses to signal she hasn't actually broken with her party's leader.
But two days earlier, in front of reporters, Trump had said something different. Asked about Salazar's criticism, he pushed back directly: "I'm very strong on the borders, and she isn't"[1]. He also credited himself, not her, for her political standing in South Florida.
Only one person has described what happened on that call, and it's Salazar. No transcript or readout exists. That gap between her account and his public words is the story.
The Ad That Started It
The trigger was a 30-second campaign ad Salazar released on Sept. 17, weeks ahead of the November midterms[3][10]. In it, she spoke straight to Trump: "Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far"[3][5]. She cited a specific figure — that in July, half of the roughly 50,000 people ICE detained had no criminal record[6].
She drew a line her office has used before, telling the president to "keep the pot of gold" he'd won with Hispanic voters in 2024 rather than lose it, and separating "the narco and the nanny, the gangster and the gardener"[1][2]. Her district, Florida's 27th, is majority Hispanic and backed Trump by nearly 15 points that year[1]. Nationally, Trump won 48% of Hispanic voters to Kamala Harris's 51%, according to Pew Research Center — a much closer split than Republicans have historically drawn[1].
The response inside her own party was fast. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin went on CNN and rejected the ad's framing outright. Asked about the no-criminal-record data, he said anyone who crossed the border illegally "chose to become a criminal at that point, regardless"[6][7].
One Number, Two Definitions
Here's where the argument actually turns, and it's not really about the number. It's about what counts as a crime.
Crossing the U.S. border without inspection is a federal misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. §1325. Simply being in the country without legal status, though, is a civil violation — not a crime on its own. So when Salazar says half of detainees have "no criminal record," she means no conviction for anything beyond how they got here. When Mullin says a criminal is a criminal, he means the entry itself already makes someone a lawbreaker, conviction or not[6][7].
Both can be using the same data and still be right, by their own definitions. And independent research suggests the underlying share is larger than either side's talking points. TRAC, a Syracuse University data project, found that 70.6% of the 65,765 people in ICE custody on July 11, 2026, had no criminal conviction — well above Salazar's 50% figure, though the two counts use different measures and different dates[11]. Separately, the Deportation Data Project, run by researchers at UC Berkeley and UCLA, found that only 27% of July 2026 book-ins involved someone with a conviction[12].
There's a mechanical reason for that. When ICE raises the total number of arrests, the pool of noncitizens with serious convictions doesn't grow to match — it's fixed. So the share of arrests involving people with convictions falls almost automatically as volume goes up. The Deportation Data Project makes this point directly about the summer 2026 surge[12]. That means the statistic Salazar cites could be a predictable side effect of an arrest quota, not proof that enforcement priorities have shifted.
What Each Side Actually Needs
Salazar's position makes more sense once you see the bind she's in. She needs Hispanic moderates in her district to keep voting for her, and she needs Trump's endorsement to survive a primary challenge. An ad that's tough on policy but warm toward the president personally is built to do both at once.
Her preferred fix isn't rhetorical — it's a bill. She's the lead Republican sponsor of the Dignity Act of 2025, introduced with Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar in July 2025[9][13]. It would let long-settled immigrants without legal status pay restitution and work legally on a renewable permit, but it grants no green card and no path to citizenship[9][13]. By May 2026 it had reached 40 cosponsors, split evenly between the two parties[16]. That design is meant to answer the "amnesty" charge head-on, since amnesty usually implies an eventual path to citizenship or voting, and this bill has neither.
Trump and DHS see the calendar differently. They campaigned on mass removals, and record levels of Hispanic support in 2024 is part of what they read as a mandate for it. Softening enforcement now, in their view, would be the actual betrayal of that mandate. Mullin's challenge to critics — "What level of criminal activity are you willing to accept?" — is built to force anyone questioning the numbers to name exactly which detainees they'd let go[6][7].
There's also a message-discipline problem underneath all of it. A single Republican breaking ranks weeks before the midterms is a manageable story. A dozen doing the same thing is a policy retreat. That's likely part of why Trump answered Salazar in public rather than letting it pass quietly.
The Ground Beneath the Numbers
Whatever the two sides say publicly, the polling backing up Salazar's warning is real. A Fox News poll conducted Sept. 11-14 found 53% of respondents say immigration enforcement has gone too far[15]. Separate September surveys, including one from AP-NORC, found Trump's favorability among Hispanic voters has fallen since January, on both immigration and the cost of living[4][14].
Coverage of the dispute split along familiar lines. Fox News described Salazar as "running to Trump's left" in a district Trump won easily, using language that frames a policy disagreement as ideological defection[3]. The Washington Examiner went further, calling her ad "pro-immigration amnesty" in its own headline voice — importing a label that Salazar's own bill design was built specifically to reject[7]. CNN and CBS, by contrast, led with the break itself and positioned it inside a broader trend of eroding Hispanic support for Trump, treating one member's district-specific ad as evidence of a wider crack[1][2]. Local Miami outlet WLRN filed the story as a community issue about enforcement in South Florida rather than as a Washington power struggle[8].
For now, Trump is reportedly still backing Salazar's reelection despite the public disagreement[3]. She faces Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former Miami TV anchor, in November[1][10]. What was actually said on that phone call between them remains something only one side has described.
Summary
On Sept. 20, 2026, Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar told CBS's "Face the Nation" that she had spoken by phone with President Trump about immigration enforcement. She said he was "a gentleman, very courteous, very receptive"[1][2]. The call followed a campaign ad she released on Sept. 17 in which she said directly to Trump that "some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far," and that Hispanic voters who backed him in 2024 "feel betrayed today"[3][5][10].
Trump's public response was different in tone from the one Salazar described. On Sept. 18 he told reporters he disagreed with her, saying "I'm very strong on the borders, and she isn't," while crediting himself for her political success[1]. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin went further on CNN, rejecting the premise of her ad. Asked about data showing many detainees had no criminal record, he said that anyone who entered the country illegally "chose to become a criminal at that point, regardless"[6][7].
The factual crux is narrow but important. Salazar's ad says that in July, 50% of the roughly 50,000 people detained by ICE "had no criminal record"[6]. Mullin does not mainly dispute the number — he disputes what counts as a criminal. Crossing the border without inspection is a federal misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. §1325, so by his definition most of the group are lawbreakers even with no conviction on file. Salazar's definition is the one most Americans use: a conviction for a crime other than the border crossing itself. Independent analyses of the same federal data report an even larger no-conviction share than her ad does[11][12].
The political crux is separate. Salazar argues the GOP is spending down a real 2024 gain with Hispanic voters. Trump and Mullin argue enforcement is the mandate voters gave them, and that softening it would be the actual betrayal. Salazar is running in a majority-Hispanic South Florida seat that Trump carried by nearly 15 points in 2024, against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former Miami TV anchor[1][10].
The Event
On Sept. 17, 2026, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) released a 30-second campaign ad addressed to President Trump, saying "some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far" and citing a figure that 50% of the roughly 50,000 people ICE detained in July had no criminal record[3][5][6]. On Sept. 18, Trump told reporters he disagreed with her, saying "I'm very strong on the borders, and she isn't"[1]. Also that week, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly rebutted the ad on CNN[6][7]. On Sept. 20, Salazar told CBS's "Face the Nation" that she and Trump had since spoken by phone and that he was "very courteous, very receptive"[1][2].
Undisputed Facts
- Salazar released the ad on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, weeks before the November midterms[3][10].
- The ad's line to Trump was "Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far"[3][5].
- Trump said publicly on Sept. 18 that he disagreed with Salazar: "I'm very strong on the borders, and she isn't"[1].
- Salazar said on Sept. 20 that she and Trump had a phone conversation and that he was "a gentleman, very courteous, very receptive"[1][2].
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly rejected the ad's framing, telling CNN's Dana Bash, "What level of criminal activity are you willing to accept?"[6][7].
- Salazar is the lead Republican sponsor of the Dignity Act of 2025 (H.R. 4393), introduced July 15, 2025 with Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas); it had grown to 40 cosponsors, evenly split between the parties, by May 2026[9][13][16].
- Salazar's district, Florida's 27th, is majority Hispanic and voted for Trump by nearly 15 points in 2024[1].
- Per Pew Research Center, Trump won 48% of Hispanic voters in 2024 to Kamala Harris's 51%[1].
The Pressure
Strip away the moralizing and blame. What structural realities persist regardless of which narrative wins?
- The arithmetic of arrest quotas
- The pool of noncitizens with serious criminal convictions is finite. When ICE raises total arrests, the share of arrests involving people with convictions falls almost automatically — the Deportation Data Project makes this point directly about the summer 2026 surge[12]. So the statistic Salazar cites is a predictable byproduct of volume targets, not necessarily a change in policy intent. Both sides can be telling the truth about their own numbers.
- A definitional gap, not a data gap
- "No criminal record" and "no criminal conviction" and "entered lawfully" are three different tests. Illegal entry is a misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. §1325; simply being in the country without status is a civil violation, not a crime. That is why Mullin can say every detainee is a criminal and Salazar can say half are not, from the same dataset[6][7].
- Endorsement dependency
- Salazar needs both Hispanic moderates and Trump's endorsement to hold her seat. That constraint explains the ad's unusual shape: hard on the policy, warm toward the president personally, with the fix framed as something Trump could take credit for.
- Calendar pressure
- The midterms are weeks away. Every actor here — Salazar, Trump, Mullin, Democrats — is speaking into a closing window, which rewards vivid claims over careful ones on all sides.
Material realityICE arrests and detention stayed at or near record levels through summer 2026, and the share of those detained without a criminal conviction rose as volume rose[11][12]. TRAC reported 70.6% of the 65,765 people in ICE custody on July 11, 2026 had no criminal conviction — a higher no-conviction share than the 50% figure in Salazar's own ad, though the two use different measures and different snapshots[11]. Meanwhile, surveys in September 2026 showed Trump's standing with Hispanic voters weaker than his 2024 performance on both immigration and cost of living[4][14][15]. None of that settles whether the enforcement program is lawful or wise. It does mean the political problem Salazar described is measurable, and that the administration's answer has to be an argument about what the numbers mean rather than a denial that they exist.
Narrative as a weaponThree parties are actively shaping this. Salazar wants you to believe she is a loyal Republican delivering private counsel that Trump accepted — hence "very receptive," a characterization only she has described, since no readout of the call has been released. Trump and DHS want you to believe nothing has changed and that a single member's ad is a local campaign tactic, not a crack in the coalition; Trump's "she isn't" line and Mullin's reframing of who counts as a criminal both serve that. Democrats want you to believe a Trump-endorsed Republican just validated their central charge. Note what is unverified in the middle of all this: the contents of the phone call rest entirely on one participant's account, and "receptive" is a word Trump himself has not used.
How Each Side Sees It
Each major actor’s view — how it frames things, its underlying incentive, and how it’s materially affected. Tap a side to read it.
Frames it asTheir argument is not that enforcement is wrong — it is that the wrong people are being swept up, and that the party is burning an asset it just won. Salazar draws a line between "the narco and the nanny, the gangster and the gardener"[2]. A Cuban-American member representing Miami, she casts herself as the person telling the president an uncomfortable truth his staff won't. Her fix is legislative, not rhetorical: the Dignity Act would let long-settled immigrants without status pay restitution and work legally on a renewable permit — without a green card and without citizenship. That design is the whole point to her camp. It is meant to answer the "amnesty" charge by denying the thing amnesty is accused of granting: a path to voting[9][13]. She also says she told Trump he could "keep the pot of gold" he brought to the GOP in 2024 and "fix this mess that has been happening for 40 years"[1][2].
WhyPolitical survival plus a signature legislative legacy. She faces Democrat Eliott Rodriguez in a majority-Hispanic district where enforcement raids are a local story, not an abstraction[1][10]. She also needs Trump's endorsement to hold — hence an ad that criticizes the policy while flattering the president personally.
Impact on themShe absorbed immediate intra-party attacks from DHS and from conservative media while gaining national coverage as the Republican willing to say it[6][7]. If Hispanic support keeps sliding, her seat is a first casualty; if enforcement softens, she can claim it.
Frames it asThey see the mandate question as settled. Voters, including record numbers of Hispanic voters, elected Trump on a promise of mass removals — so scaling back would be the betrayal. Mullin's position is a legal one, not a dodge: entering the U.S. without inspection is a federal crime under 8 U.S.C. §1325, so a detainee with no conviction is not therefore an innocent person, merely one who has not been prosecuted for the entry. His challenge — "What level of criminal activity are you willing to accept?" — is meant to force critics to name a category of lawbreaker they would leave in place[6][7]. Trump's public line adds an electoral claim: that his margin carried Salazar's district, not her moderation on immigration[1].
WhyProtecting the core promise of the second term and deterring other Republicans from defecting before November. A single defector is a story; a dozen is a policy retreat.
Impact on themTrump reportedly continues to back Salazar's reelection despite the disagreement[3]. The administration's own detention data is now being quoted against it by a member of its own party — a message problem it cannot answer by disputing the numbers, only their meaning.
Frames it asThey argue Salazar's ad concedes their case: a Trump-endorsed Republican is now saying, on camera, that the enforcement program is sweeping up people with no criminal record. They point to independent analyses of federal data showing that the no-conviction share of ICE detainees is higher than Salazar's own figure[11][12]. Their second argument is about accountability, not sympathy — they say a member who votes with the administration cannot sell a 30-second ad as a course correction, and they treat the Dignity Act's lack of a floor vote as proof the GOP majority never intended to pass it.
WhyWinning Hispanic-heavy seats in November, including Florida's 27th, and converting enforcement backlash into turnout.
Impact on themPolling in September 2026 showed Trump's standing with Hispanic voters weakening on both immigration and cost of living[4][14]. If that holds, Democrats gain in districts like Salazar's; if it is soft or overstated, they have misread a group that moved right in 2024.
Frames it asThis is not one bloc with one view. Cuban-American and Venezuelan-American voters in Miami often back tough enforcement on principle while opposing removals of neighbors with clean records and years in the country. Many say the dispute is really about whether the government distinguishes between people at all — whether a landscaper with a 12-year work history is treated the same as someone with a violent conviction. Others say the promise they voted for in 2024 was precisely that removals would not be selective, and see carve-outs as the old cycle restarting.
WhyHousehold stability: work permits, family members' status, and local business conditions in neighborhoods where raids happen.
Impact on themDirectly exposed to enforcement outcomes and to whichever party wins the argument. Fox News polling has found 53% of respondents overall say immigration enforcement has gone too far[15]; among Hispanic voters specifically, a September New York Times/Siena survey put approval of Trump's immigration handling far lower[4].
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The Bias Ledger average rating 4.3
The same story, as framed by outlets across the spectrum, ordered least to most biased. The bias score (1 = straight, 10 = heavily spun) is an AI assessment of that framing — click an outlet to see its track record. The tell is the word choice or omission that reveals the angle.
| Outlet | Vantage | Bias | How they frame it | The tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBS News | U.S. center | 2 | "Rep. Salazar tells Trump on Hispanic voters: 'Preserve that fortune that you have brought' to the GOP" | Leads with her flattering line to Trump rather than the criticism, which softens the break. CBS also published the full transcript, the most checkable version of the record. |
| WLRN | U.S. public radio, Miami | 2 | "Salazar says Trump 'receptive' to her warning his immigration strategy is pushing away Latino voters" | Files the story under immigration rather than politics, centering South Florida residents affected by enforcement over the Washington conflict. That choice is itself an editorial emphasis, though a disclosed one. |
| CNN | U.S. center-left | 3 | "GOP Rep. Salazar says she spoke with Trump and he is 'very receptive' to her warning about Hispanic voters" | Frames the story around GOP internal strain and pairs it with Trump's sinking approval, making one ad read as a trend. To its credit it prints Trump's contradicting quote high in the piece. |
| Florida Phoenix | U.S. left-leaning nonprofit; part of the donor-funded States Newsroom network | 4 | "Maria Elvira Salazar breaks with Trump on immigration enforcement in campaign ad" | "Breaks with Trump" is the strongest available verb for what was a carefully deferential ad. Local framing is solid on the district and her Democratic opponent. |
| Fox News | U.S. right | 6 | "'Gone too far': GOP candidate runs to Trump's left on signature issue in deep red area" | "Runs to Trump's left" and "deep red area" recast a policy disagreement as ideological defection in hostile territory — a framing that invites primary-voter judgment rather than evaluation of the claim. |
| The Washington Times | U.S. right | 6 | "GOP lawmaker who posted anti-deportation ad says Trump was 'receptive' during phone call" | "Anti-deportation ad" overstates the ad, which criticized the scope of enforcement rather than deportation as such. Putting "receptive" in quotes nudges the reader to doubt her account. |
| Washington Examiner | U.S. right | 7 | "Mullin bashes Maria Elvira Salazar's pro-immigration amnesty GOP ad: 'A criminal is a criminal'" | Labels the ad "pro-immigration amnesty" in the outlet's own voice, importing a contested characterization of the Dignity Act — which grants no citizenship path — into what is presented as a news headline. |
References
- GOP Rep. Salazar says she spoke with Trump and he is 'very receptive' to her warning about Hispanic voters — CNN · U.S. center-left national network
- Transcript: Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 20, 2026 — CBS News · U.S. center; primary-source transcript
- Rep María Elvira Salazar breaks with Trump on immigration enforcement — Fox News · U.S. right, owned by Fox Corporation
- Trump's approval on immigration, economy declines among Hispanic voters: Poll — The Hill · U.S. center, owned by Nexstar
- In campaign ad, GOP congresswoman says Trump's immigration enforcement has "gone too far" — CBS News · U.S. center
- 'A criminal is a criminal': DHS Secretary Mullin defends aggressive deportation efforts as some Republicans waver — CNN · U.S. center-left; contains primary-source video of Mullin
- Mullin bashes Maria Elvira Salazar's pro-immigration amnesty GOP ad: 'A criminal is a criminal' — Washington Examiner · U.S. right, owned by Clarity Media Group (Philip Anschutz)
- Salazar says Trump 'receptive' to her warning his immigration strategy is pushing away Latino voters — WLRN · U.S. public radio, South Florida; listener- and grant-funded
- Cosponsors – H.R.4393, DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025, 119th Congress — Congress.gov · U.S. government primary source (Library of Congress)
- Maria Elvira Salazar breaks with Trump on immigration enforcement in campaign ad — Florida Phoenix · U.S. left-leaning nonprofit, States Newsroom network (donor-funded)
- Immigration Detention Quick Facts — TRAC · Syracuse University research project; obtains federal data via FOIA litigation
- Understanding the Summer 2026 Surge in ICE Arrests — Deportation Data Project · UC Berkeley/UCLA academic project publishing FOIA-obtained ICE records
- The Dignity Act — Office of Rep. María Elvira Salazar · Primary source; the sponsor's own advocacy page
- Trump's favorability has fallen among Hispanics since January, a new AP-NORC poll finds — Associated Press · U.S. wire service, nonprofit cooperative
- Poll finds 53% say Trump immigration enforcement has gone too far — Fox News · U.S. right outlet reporting its own bipartisan-conducted poll
- Dignity Act reaches 40 cosponsors, split evenly between parties — The Texas Tribune · U.S. nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom