Are Cuban American voters in Florida turning against Trump over deportations?

BBC correspondent Will Grant reported from Miami that some are. Cuban-born immigration lawyer Ismael Labrador, among the 68% of Cubans in Florida who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, said he expected only people with criminal records to be deported and now calls himself a repentant Trump voter after his own cousin was sent back to Cuba. The backlash could hurt Republicans in the midterm elections.

• Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar released a video saying the deportation policy had gone too far.
• Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former CBS News anchor, is challenging Salazar in Florida's 27th congressional district.
• Trump revoked temporary humanitarian parole for about 300,000 Cubans last year.

▸In their words

“I think that we got blindsided by the administration.” Ismael Labrador · at 13:20 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-10-31). Read the whole episode summary →

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