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Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who is seeking reelection, captured the attention of Latino online audiences this week with a striking prediction thatPresident Donald Trump would support her signature immigration reform bill, despite his administration’s aggressive deportation agenda.
Salazar introduced the Dignity Act in July 2025, proposing to combine tougher border security and immigration enforcement with legal protections for certain undocumented immigrants. The legislation would establish a seven-year, renewable program allowing eligible immigrants to remain in the United States if they meet employment or education requirements and satisfy other conditions. It would also create pathways to permanent residency for certain groups, including DACA recipients, and require employers nationwide to electronically verify workers’ eligibility.
More than a year later, however, the bill remains stalled in Congress, without broad legislative support or a public endorsement from Trump. Yet, just over a month after openly criticizing the president’s immigration policies, Salazar revived the proposal with a new message that together with Trump, when reelected, she could be the one to deliver immigration reform.
"Si alguien lo puede hacer es Trump" ("If anyone can do it, it's Trump"), Salazar declared last Thursday (Oct. 15) after a campaign event in Miami.
The remarks quickly gained traction across Spanish-language media. El Nuevo Herald, Univision, Diario Las Américas, and EFE covered her statements, helping the conversation extend beyond the United States.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado publicly endorsed Salazar's reelection, praising her defense of human rights and democracy. Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella also backed the congresswoman, calling her "la mejor amiga de Colombia en el Congreso de los Estados Unidos" ("Colombia's best friend in the U.S. Congress").
Those endorsements also added to Salazar's visibility within South Florida's politically influential Cuban, Venezuelan and Colombian diasporas. Conservative online commentators, including Cuban influencer Alex Otaola, amplified the international support from Corina and De La Espriella for her campaign, extending even further the conversation across Spanish-language social media. Venezuelan Emmanuel Rincón did the same.
But posts and about 50 comments reviewed by DDIA show that visibility did not necessarily translate into support.
Left-leaning influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina, for example, shared a clip of Salazar's remarks with a skeptical caption: "María Elvira Salazar dice que Trump es un hombre sabio que dará una reforma migratoria" ("María Elvira Salazar says Trump is a wise man who will deliver immigration reform").
His posts generated more than 6,700 interactions on TikTok and 5,100 on Instagram in three days, according to data collected through NewsWhip. The comments left by Latinos on his publications were mostly skeptical, with users questioning how a president overseeing deportations could suddenly become a champion of legal protections for undocumented immigrants as Salazar suggested. “Palabras al aire”, wrote one of them.
In other less viral publications about the topic, other Latino social media users noticed that the Republican congresswoman was not announcing an agreement with the White House and that the administration has not said anything new to support her project. Spanish-speakers in different posts made online highlighted that Salazar was just expressing confidence that Trump would eventually support her proposal if she got reelected. This meant turning an unconfirmed political prediction into a campaign message – and Latinos noticed it.