Conservatives launch fierce attack on Salazar immigration bill

WASHINGTON — While most lawmakers on Capitol Hill were focused on President Trump and the U.S. military strikes against Iran over the Easter break, conservative groups launched a surprise offensive against a bipartisan immigration reform bill in Congress, creating a wave of attacks against the plan introduced by U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami.

Salazar represents Key Biscayne and made her home on the island in 2024.

While the timing may have been unusual – with Congress out of town – there was no surprise about the main argument made by opponents of the Salazar bill.

“The ‘Dignity Act’ is just amnesty,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, as more conservative GOP lawmakers dumped on Salazar’s bill via social media from all around the country.

“The Dignity Act is mass amnesty and would constitute a terrible betrayal of our votes,” added U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas.

The word ‘amnesty’ has dominated the immigration reform debate for over two decades, as conservative Republican opposition doomed compromise bills in 2005 and 2013 and helped undermine a deal initially struck between President Trump and top Senate Democrats in 2017.

With the House on break, Salazar tangled directly with some of her GOP colleagues via social media.

“Calling the DIGNITY Act “amnesty” isn’t just wrong. It’s a deliberate distortion,” Salazar wrote on X.

Salazar’s frustration was obvious. “READ. THE. BILL. BEFORE. YOU. OPEN. YOUR. MOUTH,” she wrote at one point to a GOP colleague.

But it wasn’t just fellow GOP lawmakers weighing in against Salazar’s bipartisan immigration reform measure, which has 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans as cosponsors. Outside conservative groups also suddenly rose up to denounce the plan.

“The Dignity Act is a mass amnesty bill. No amount of bureaucratic hoops will change that,” said Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation.

There was also outrage on talk radio, as some influential conservative media voices went a step further in condemning Salazar.

“It’s really important that Rep. Maria Salazar loses her next election,” tweeted conservative talk show host Jesse Kelly on Wednesday. “Republicans must be punished for betrayal like this.”

There were also opposition voices from within Florida’s delegation on Capitol Hill, a stark reminder that Salazar’s views on immigration run against many inside the GOP.

“The Dignity Act should never see the light of day on the House floor,” said U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, who has made no bones about his views on illegal immigrants in the state.

“Deport them ALL,” Fine posted on Tuesday.

Why the sudden wave of conservative opposition to Salazar’s bill? That wasn’t clear. There has been absolutely no indication that GOP leaders are interested in bringing her measure to a vote in either the U.S. House or Senate.

Democrats said the uproar wasn’t hard to explain.

“MAGA has excused skyrocketing prices, plummeting job growth, war with Iran, and countless other Trump policy failures,” said U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Michigan. “But the one thing that they can never forgive is a Latina Republican Congresswoman trying to get bipartisan immigration reform.”

But while Democrats would like to see immigration reform move forward in Congress, they aren’t exactly rushing to defend Salazar from attacks by other Republicans about immigration – knowing that the Miami Republican could become a vulnerable GOP incumbent in this year’s midterm elections.

Just as Salazar won her seat in 2020 when Latino voters swung towards the GOP in South Florida. Democrats on Capitol Hill know Salazar could be in trouble if Miami-Dade swings back to the left this November.

This story was originally published in the Key Biscayne Independent, a WLRN News partner.