A couple of Florida lawmakers who’ve been vocal cheerleaders of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns are now asking him to spare some of their constituents.
In early February, the Trump administration revoked temporary protected status from around 350,000 Venezuelans who fled brutal crackdowns on dissent and struggled for food and medicine under President Nicolás Maduro. The move essentially declared that it’s now safe enough for refugees to return to Venezuela, though Maduro remains in power.
Now, Florida Reps. Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart have sent the Trump administration letters, begging for some assurances that Venezuelans who were previously protected won’t get the boot. “I urge you to make a decision that individually provides a solution to those who contribute to our country and respect the rule of law,” Gimenez wrote.
Diaz-Balart’s letter also asked for leniency. “I respectfully request, within all applicable rules and regulations, that you assess all options available to ensure that Venezuelan nationals without criminal records are not forcibly returned to one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world,” he wrote.
The letters are a stark turnaround for the two Republican lawmakers. In late January, Gimenez sounded confident that Trump’s harsh immigration policies wouldn’t touch his district.
“Most of my constituents are fine. My constituents are here legally,” he told CNN. Of Trump’s anti-immigration raids, he said, “That’s what President Trump ran on, and he is complying with his promises.”
A month ago, Diaz-Balart seemed similarly incredulous when discussing the possibility that Trump’s immigration crackdown might hurt people in his district, telling a Florida news outlet that Trump would focus on the “thousands upon thousands of convicted criminals” who migrated to the United States and not people in the U.S. with temporary protected status.
From the beginning, it was silly for the representatives to assume Trump and his administration would spare their constituents from his crackdown. That’s a valuable lesson about Trump for the two lawmakers. Unfortunately, their constituents will pay the cost of learning it.
