Miami congresswoman: On immigration and Pretti’s death, I have never been silent | Opinion

The Miami Herald Editorial Board says “silence isn’t leadership.” I agree. But on immigration, I have never been silent, and the people I represent in South Florida know it.

From the moment I stepped onto the House floor, immigration was at the center of my work. I have fought for immigrants in South Florida and across this nation, clearly, loudly and relentlessly. No one paying attention can honestly claim otherwise. When Alex Pretti was shot and chaos erupted in Minneapolis, I spoke the same day, condemning the tragedy and calling out a failed enforcement strategy that puts lives at risk. I warned that treating narcotraffickers the same as nannies is dangerous, ineffective and un-American. But that warning did not begin in Minneapolis. For months, I have been sounding the alarm, in Congress, on national television and in my district, that Washington’s refusal to modernize our laws is costing real families their safety and their future. I haven’t just spoken; I’ve led. I wrote the Dignity Act, the only serious bipartisan immigration reform bill before Congress today. I’ve taken this fight to every major network, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and Fox, warning that a one-size-fits-all enforcement strategy is failing families and undermining the rule of law.

And when speeches and interviews were not enough, I wrote the book, “Dignity Not Citizenship: The Truth About Immigration No One Is Telling You,” making the case for urgent immigration reform to the entire country.

While these debates play out in Washington, the real work never stops back home.

Every day in our Miami office, we sit across from real families, parents fearing deportation, constituents begging for help to free a loved one from detention. These are not abstract cases. These are neighbors, coworkers and members of our community.

We listen to their stories and work directly with federal agencies to ensure each case is considered fairly and with full understanding of the circumstances.

We have helped secure the release of detained immigrants in this district. We have defended Temporary Protected Status, the CHNV humanitarian parole program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and I-220A families without fear or apology. And when outside groups ran billboards attacking our work, the very immigrant communities we stood with responded with their own billboards, not defending a politician, but defending the truth of what they live every day.

This work is guided by facts, not politics. Good journalism depends on reliable sources and real evidence. So does responsible leadership.

When the administration canceled TPS and CHNV, I pushed back immediately. When thousands of Cuban families were ripped apart by the meaningless, Biden-era, I-220A designation that left some Cubans without a clear legal pathway to stay in the country, we compiled evidence and fought that injustice head-on.

At the same time, we have worked to change the law itself. I’m the lead Republican sponsor of the American Dream and Promise Act, the American Families United Act and the Venezuelan Adjustment Act, laws designed to protect families and those fleeing brutality.

Now, I’m embarked on the most consequential fight yet, the DIGNITY Act, introduced with Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas. Dignity is one of the fastest-growing bipartisan coalitions in Congress, with 35 cosponsors and more than 60 endorsing organizations. Just this week, we gained four members.

This coalition includes pastors and painters, executives and evangelicals. What unites them is the reality that our immigration system is collapsing.

I have taken scrutiny from every direction because I refuse to abandon principle for convenience.

Leadership is not waiting for permission. It is not waiting for headlines. It is showing up before the cameras arrive. It is standing with families when no one is watching. So let me be clear, especially to the people of South Florida: On immigration, I have never been silent. Not on enforcement failures. Not on reform. And not on the moral urgency of this moment.

I will keep doing the work, for the families I represent, for the dignity they deserve and for an immigration system worthy of this country.

My record speaks for itself.

U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican, represents Florida’s 27th Congressional District.