{"id":159504,"date":"2026-02-18T08:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159504\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:38:11","slug":"immigration-advocates-balk-as-maria-elvira-salazar-cheers-palantir-relocation-to-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159504\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration advocates balk as Maria Elvira Salazar cheers Palantir relocation to Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar became one of the first political leaders to cheer Palantir\u2019s<\/a> relocation to Miami. But Democrats spy trouble in embracing a company that surveils immigrant communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Miami, Palantir Tech!\u201d Salazar posted on X less than 90 minutes after the company announced its corporate relocation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Coral Gables Republican cited Florida\u2019s business environment and a growing tech and finance sector in Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike so many companies choosing to plant their flag here, you\u2019ll find a city built for growth, low taxes, smart regulation and a skilled workforce ready to get to work. Miami is open for business, and the future is being built right here,\u201d she posted.<\/p>\n

But area Democrats immediately criticized Salazar\u2019s enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you celebrating a company that is developing surveillance and detention systems for ICE moving to Miami?\u201d posted Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst with the Florida Immigrant Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) also pounced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is out \u2013 Salazar\u2019s parading around and feigning support for migrant communities was never anything more than empty words,\u201d said DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs communities in her district are being ripped apart, the economy is falling out from underneath them, and Latino voters run from her party, this officially marks the end of Salazar\u2019s little book tour \u2014 that\u2019s all this was anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palantir\u00a0was founded in Silicon Valley, California, with Republican megadonor\u00a0Peter Thiel\u00a0among its\u00a0co-founders. The company re-located to Colorado in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In February, the business\u00a0announced a record\u00a0$1.4 billion in revenue<\/a> for\u00a0the final quarter of 2025. But the massive growth controversially followed a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n

Critics have leveled particular disdain at ImmigrationOS, surveillance technology developed with a $30 million federal grant<\/a> that employs artificial intelligence and data mining to identify, track and detain suspected immigrants in the country, including violent criminals and those overstaying visas.<\/p>\n

The controversial technology development prompted protests, including marches outside Amazon\u00a0demanding<\/a> that the firm cut its ties to Palantir.<\/p>\n

Notably, Gov. Ron DeSantis has strongly supported<\/a> ICE and President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation agenda, requiring law enforcement agencies to work directly with ICE and establishing detention centers to expedite the removal of undocumented immigrants from the state and country.<\/p>\n

In that sense, Florida could be a better match than Colorado, where Democratic Gov. Jared Polis sharply criticized<\/a> ICE activity in the state.<\/p>\n

But the deportations also prompted backlash in Miami, where more than half of the residents were born outside of the U.S., according to census data<\/a>. That has prompted Salazar to distance herself from Republican rhetoric demonizing immigrants and to criticize ICE\u2019s crackdown on non-criminals. She said the election results in New Jersey and Virginia in November already show the issue hurting the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the GOP does not deliver, we will lose the Hispanic vote all over the country, and unfortunately, it happened in New Jersey and Virginia,\u201d Salazar said in November<\/a>. \u201cHispanics moved back more than 25 points to the Democratic Party \u2014 25 points. \u2026 The GOP would have had a much better chance of winning (if) the Hispanics\u2019 vote would have stuck with the GOP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats in Washington clearly agree, which is part of why the DCCC already lists Florida\u2019s 27th Congressional District among those in play in the 2026 Midterms, despite Trump winning 56.7% of the vote<\/a> there in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar became one of the first political leaders to cheer Palantir\u2019s relocation to Miami.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[76515,76516,76517,123,125,124,53562,76518],"class_list":{"0":"post-159504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-florida-immigrant-coalition","9":"tag-immigrationos","10":"tag-maria-elbira-salazar","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-headlines","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-peter-thiel","15":"tag-thomas-kennedy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}