Heritage, Freedom, and Dignity: A Latina, Conservative, Voice for America
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar: "My parents fled Cuba with nothing but faith, family and the hope of freedom"
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar. Crédito: Jesús García | Impremedia
Hispanic Heritage Month is more than a commemoration. For me, it is a mirror, a moment to reflect on where we come from and what we fight to protect. My parents fled Cuba with nothing but faith, family and the hope of freedom. They taught me that socialism is not an ideology but a prison, and that liberty is never guaranteed, it must be defended, nurtured, and passed on.
Those lessons are not just my family’s story. They are the story of millions of Latinos who know both hardship and hope, who have strengthened America through hard work, devotion to family, and love of liberty. But today those values are under attack, by a broken immigration system, and by the false promises of socialism that destroyed our homelands. As the Representative for Florida’s 27th District, a Latino-majority community, I carry our voice into Congress to confront both threats head-on.
The immigration crisis
Our immigration system is broken, but the current approach is wrongly treating hard-working individuals and criminals the same. Across the country, families are afraid to go to work, send their children to school, or even to attend church. Washington has failed them for decades by looking the other way, while profiting from their labor. The consequences of inaction are rippling through our entire economy. From farms and construction sites to restaurants, schools, and hospitals, every sector suffers when millions of families live in the shadows instead of contributing openly and securely. At the same time, we must be clear: while honest families seek opportunity, violent groups like Tren de Aragua exploit our system to spread crime and chaos. With them, there can be no mercy.
That is why I recently introduced the Dignity Act of 2025, a commonsense solution to our immigration crisis. It secures the border, restores order, and provides earned legal status with dignity, not amnesty, for those who have contributed to our communities. It protects hardworking families while ensuring criminals face the full force of the law. That is the balance our immigration system desperately needs: a solution that delivers security, demands accountability, and restores the dignity of the American Dream.
The threat of socialism
The immigration crisis is not the only test we face. Just as we must permanently secure the border and give dignity to those who contribute, we must also confront another danger: the spread of socialism. Both issues threaten the values Latinos cherish: family, integrity, and freedom, and both demand a strong response.
In places like New York, politicians like Zohran Mamdani openly embrace socialism and refuse to condemn dictators like Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro or Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel. Sadly, he is not alone, and these ideas are gaining new ground in American politics.
But our community knows where that road leads: poverty, repression, and exile. That is why we have a duty to reject socialism wherever it appears, whether in Havana, Caracas, Queens, or Washington. Many of us watched socialism destroy our homelands, and we will not let it take root here. America is the world’s refuge for those seeking freedom, and if we loose America, we have nowhere else to turn to.
The Promise of Heritage
Our community is not monolithic, but we are mighty: builders, entrepreneurs, pastors, teachers, veterans. We are the largest and fastest-growing minority in the United States, and our strength lies in the values we share, faith, family, hard work, and freedom.
President Reagan once said Hispanics are conservatives because our deepest values are conservative values. He was right then, and it is even clearer now.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, let us celebrate the strength of our history and the dignity of our families, but let us also recognize the urgency of this moment. Immigration reform cannot wait, socialism cannot be ignored, and freedom must be defended.
We Latinos have helped build America. Now, we must rise to protect it. I urge my fellow Latinos to strongly reject and condemn socialism in all its forms, and to join me in demanding dignity and real immigration reform through the Dignity Act. These are two issues where we can combine our voice to make an undeniable difference in the country. That is how we keep faith with our families, protect our future, and defend the promise of this nation.
We must come together to keep the American Dream alive, because this country is a miracle. Only in America can the daughter of Cuban exiles rise to Congress in one generation. Only in America can Latinos turn sacrifice into strength and become defenders of freedom itself. Now, it is our turn to carry the torch. Our heritage demands it. Our children deserve it. And as a Latina, an American, and your Representative, I will never stop raising my voice to safeguard our dignity, our values, and our freedom, for us, and for the generations still to come.
(*) Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar represents District 27 in Florida, which has a 71% Hispanic population.
The texts published in this section are the authors’ sole responsibility, and El Diario assumes no responsibility for them.
