The immigration lawyer Willy Allen stated this Monday that the Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar "insults our community" of Cuban Americans after she recently said in an interview that President Trump was unaware of the harassment that immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela have faced as a result of his immigration policies.
It also criticizes Salazar for suggesting that Cubans support a Republican candidate in Louisville who has publicly defended ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and argues that the children of immigrants should not have birthright nationality, as is currently the case.
The catalyst was an interview with Salazar published on April 3rd, in which the congresswoman stated that President Trump realized that immigration policies against Venezuelans and Cubans did not work in the first year, and she anticipated a shift in the direction of the Department of Homeland Security under new leadership.
In CiberCuba, Allen pointed out that Salazar's statements "insult our community," dismissing his promises of change as an empty gesture towards Cuban and Venezuelan migrants.
Later on, the lawyer went further and reiterated his public apologies for having voted for Salazar in the past.
This is not the first time Allen has targeted Salazar. In February 2025, he had already described a proposed law from the congresswoman aimed at regularizing Cubans with Form I-220A as an insult and a flimsy attempt, arguing that the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 already covered those cases without the need for new legislation. At that time, he also admitted to having voted for it twice and publicly apologized.
In July 2025, Allen stoked the fire further by publicly announcing that he will not only not vote for María Elvira Salazar, but that he has also supported someone who will challenge her in the primaries.
Salazar, for his part, stated on April 3 that the new leadership of the Department of Homeland Security would focus solely and exclusively on criminals and defended the retention of migrants with I-220A or Temporary Protected Status who have no criminal records.
The congresswoman also urged the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to resume the naturalization processes for Cubans and Venezuelans, which have been suspended, and on March 27, she advocated for the protection of over 500,000 Venezuelans in uncertain immigration status, arguing that Venezuela is not a safe country for them to return to.
The I-220A form is the central point of conflict between the two: Allen argues that this supervised release document is a parole and should allow Cubans to adjust their status after one year and one day of stay under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which is why he deems Salazar's legislative proposals as unnecessary or misleading for the community.
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