A Florida Republican has demanded President Donald Trump halt deportations of thousands of migrants amid fears his crackdown could hurt the GOP.

Trump followed through on his promise to conduct the largest mass deportation in US history during his first week back in office. Over 2,000 people were arrested in a widespread crackdown as he dismantled immigration programs put in place by Biden.

Representative Maria Elvira Salazar made a plea to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to spare migrants who had entered the country under Biden’s ‘humanitarian parole’ program from deportation.

Despite winning the 2024 election with 43 percent of the Latino vote, there are concerns that Trump’s aggressive deportation policies may alienate newly-loyal GOP voters whose communities are directly affected.

For Salazar, who was endorsed by Trump in 2020, this is particularly pertinent as more than two-thirds of voters in her congressional district are Hispanic.

Recent New York Times-Ipsos polling found 87 percent of Americans oppose deporting immigrants who are in the country legally, and 62 percent oppose separating families. 

Salazar – a Trump ally – asked the administration to protect migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) who entered the country under the CHNV parole process.

She emphasized that the Republican Party ought to take the higher ground in this situation, and shouldn’t penalize the migrants over ‘Joe Biden’s screw-ups.’

Trump ally Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar begged the administration to halt deportations for thousands of migrants amid

Trump aggressively forged ahead with his pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in US history in his first week back in power

‘I strongly urge you to ensure that all Cubans paroled in under the CHNV program eligible for or with pending applications for the Cuban Adjustment Act are protected from deportation until their cases are fully resolved,’ Salazar said. 

‘Additionally, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians who arrived under the CHNV program, have no criminal record, and have applied for asylum through the proper legal channels should also be protected until their cases are fully resolved.’ 

The Biden administration announced the CHNV program in January 2023, allowing nationals from those countries to stay in the US temporarily for up to two years.

Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals were eligible for the program due to ‘urgent humanitarian reasons and heightened instability’ in those countries, according to Global Refuge.

Approximately 531,690 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole under the parole processes as of December, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The Trump administration is giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials the power to deport migrants who were allowed into the country temporarily under Biden-era programs, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.

Those programs include CHNV parole and the CBP One app, which allows migrants to schedule appointments to enter the country. 

Salazar represents a district in Miami-Dade County, which has the highest share of immigrants of any county in the nation, according to USA Facts.

The Trump administration is giving immigration officials the power to deport migrants who were allowed into the country temporarily under Biden-era programs

Migrants line up to leave the United States for Mexico after being deported on Thursday

The population is 54.3 percent immigrants; of those residents, 93 percent were born in Latin America.

‘Although President Biden originally created this program on dubious legal grounds and brought individuals here without a plan for their future, they were still enrolled under programs offered to them,’ Salazar said.

‘Therefore, I believe they should have the ability to see their applications out to rectify their legal status.’

She added: ‘Don’t penalize them for Biden’s screw-ups!’ 

A DHS spokesperson defended the decision to deport migrants who entered under the humanitarian parole program. 

‘The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration,’ the spokesperson said.

‘This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis.’

On Friday, ICE authorities arrested 445 illegal migrants with criminal records, with a further 148 migrants without rap sheets also taken into custody ready for deportation.

There were a further 449 detainers lodged – requests to local police forces to hold arrested individuals until ICE can pick them up – 468 removals or repatriations, and 15 gang-related arrests across the nation.

Almost 5,000 Homeland Security and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers have been deployed by the Trump administration to carry out raids, particularly targeting sanctuary cities where dangerous criminals were previously unable to be tracked by ICE under weak Biden-era immigration policies.