Only days before Tuesday's midterm elections, a local union group brought Cuban and Venezuelan voters to Little Havana for a rally Thursday to denounce U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, accusing the Republican congresswoman of abandoning her immigrant and working-class constituents.
Salazar and former CBS Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez, a Democrat, are competing for Florida's 27th congressional district. The race has drawn national media attention. The district includes Miami, Coral Gables, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. Almost three in four district residents is Latino.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report, one of the nation's most respected and closely followed election year analysts, says Salazar remains the favorite to win, but considers the race "competitive" after it had been viewed as a "safe Republican" seat.
READ MORE: Two former news anchors, one seat: Inside the tightening race for Florida’s 27th District
Speakers at Thursday's rally, organized by the hospitality union UNITE HERE Local 355, took aim at Salazar’s legislative record, pointing to her votes on federal spending, social safety net programs, and immigration enforcement, alongside a soaring cost of living that has made Miami one of the least affordable metropolitan areas in the nation.
Martha Cabrera, a longtime resident of the district and a former registered Republican voter, said she change her voter registration to Non-Party Affiliated after feeling deceived by Salazar’s promises.
“I have been living in District 27 for the past 17 years, and I was once registered as a Republican. Today, I feel betrayed and disappointed by Maria Elvira Salazar,” Cabrera said. “She promised to help our immigrant community, but it’s all been lies. She supported giving $75 billion dollars to ICE to deport us and to commit crimes against us. She supported unjustly cutting the benefits of the elderly. I feel very disappointed, just like so many others who once gave her our vote.”
Rally organizers and speakers cited Salazar’s alignment with President Donald Trump’s agenda, highlighting her votes to make historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — a program used by 17% of households in her district — and her vote to appropriate $75 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last year, Salazar voted with the majority of the Republican-led Congress to pass the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which extended tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that were set to expire and added several new tax cuts.
The legislation, among other things, increased funding for ICE ten-times over, making it the most funded federal law agency in the country, with more money than many foreign militaries. It also included historic cuts to safety net programs including Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for low-income people, and SNAP, also known as food stamps.
At Thursday's rally, organizers said they are outraged over recent media reports detailing harsh conditions inside South Florida immigration detention facilities and Trump administration policies that have resulted in Cuban migrants who are undocumented being transported to third countries, including Africa, without due process.
"Salazar attempts to present herself as a compassionate advocate for immigrant communities, yet her legislative record tells a different story,” Ana Sofia Pelaez, Executive Director of Miami Freedom Project. “No amount of performative lip service can erase her votes in Congress, which enabled the very immigration policies she only disavowed when her election was on the line.”
Maikol Rodriguez, a Venezuelan worker and member of UNITE HERE Local 355, said immigrants in the U.S. should not be living in fear of the government.
“I come from a country where there is a lot of mistreatment, where there are many injustices,” Rodriguez said. “I left for that reason, because of the dictatorship. I fled because I believe in defending what is just. I’m here to continue that fight here."
"Every immigrant who comes here to this beautiful country comes to fight for a better life," Rodriguez said. "Latinos help make this country, and we deserve respect. It’s not fair that in a free country, there are so many people living in fear."
UNITE HERE Local 355 leaders said they have knocked on more than 40,000 doors, targeting Cuban and Venezuelan households to mobilize voters to unseat Salazar at the ballot box. Their message: "Adios, Salazar!"
Last month, Salazar blasted Trump, airing a campaign ad in which she declared his immigration policies have gone “too far.”
“In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record,” Salazar said in the ad she recorded in front of the White House.
“Be careful about what your advisers are telling you about immigration policies. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” Salazar says directly into the camera. “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty, I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land, and only you can do that.”
