Throughout our nation’s history, there have always been traitors and turncoats. From Benedict Arnold during the Revolution, all the way to Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) in 2025. While the rest of the Republican Party has been rallying around President Donald Trump and his border enforcement agenda, Salazar has decided to abandon sound principles and sellout her own country.
During a hearing on Tuesday with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Salazar made a call for increased low-wage foreign labor. She openly said that the U.S. needs migrant workers in order to grow. Many of her colleagues consider these comments to be a betrayal of the MAGA movement.
Salazar immediately received heated backlash on social media.
Instead of doing her job and sticking it to Powell concerning inflation or interest rates, the Florida congresswoman used the time to lobby for migrant labor, particularly in the construction, hospitality, and agriculture industries.
“We do know that… we’re losing thousands and thousands of workers, what the ICE leadership has called collateral damage,” Salazar went on to say during the hearing, placing blame on deportations for worker shortages. “Most of those people are working in three main sectors—construction, hospitality, and agriculture… we’re talking about 15% of the economy.”
via Trending News Politics:
Even more pointed was her suggestion that without importing more labor, America’s growth would stall. “We want to continue growing. We’re the number one economy in the world… if we don’t have those hands, then we don’t grow.”
Fed Chair Powell didn’t exactly endorse her argument—but he acknowledged the trend. “It’s really reduced the amount of growth in the labor force,” Powell said, referring to immigration restrictions. “At the same time, demand for workers has been coming down as well… they’ve been coming down at about the same time.”
Powell reiterated that the Fed doesn’t set immigration policy, but he confirmed that labor force growth is one of two key drivers of economic expansion. “When you significantly slow the growth of the labor force,” he said, “you will slow the growth of the economy.”
Salazar then changed directions and focused on what she referred to as a looming crisis due to a dramatic decline in birth rates.
“Americans are not having enough kids,” she continued. “That means we need other people, right?”
Powell responded that “the answer appears to be probably not” when asked if the domestic population can meet labor demands through 2035. While he floated the potential for AI to improve productivity, he cautioned not to “count on it,” saying, “those gains are coming… but they may take longer or be less in the beginning than expected.”
The Republican representative finished by asking Powell if he believed the U.S. can stay the world’s top-rated economy with the current immigration law from the Trump administration.
Powell, trying to avoid stepping on any landmines, said, “You could have the highest per capita earnings… but if you’re talking about the aggregate output, then population growth may be a concern.”
This isn’t the first time Salazar has earned the ire of fellow conservatives. In the past, the Florida congresswoman was all in on a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients.
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