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SunSeeker

(58,371 posts)
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 05:08 PM Jan 2026

Latinas for Trump' Co-Founder Warns Immigration Will Cost G.O.P. the Midterms

Source: NY Times

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown over the last year has gone from uncomfortable to untenable for Ileana Garcia, a Republican state senator in Florida.

A Transportation Security Administration officer at the Tallahassee airport overheard her speaking Spanish and asked whether Ms. Garcia, who was born in Miami, was an American citizen. She worried for the first time that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might stop her son, a young adult, because he looks Hispanic. Constituents have asked her for help finding immigrant relatives arrested by ICE.

Ms. Garcia, 56, has had enough. The Republican Party is in trouble, she said in an interview, predicting that it will lose this year’s midterm elections if the White House does not soon reconsider its harsh immigration enforcement tactics.

“We should not be afraid as a party to speak up, to course correct,” she said. That was before Saturday, when Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old I.C.U. nurse who was protesting in Minneapolis, and federal officials sought to portray him as a “domestic terrorist.” Ms. Garcia said she was “dumbfounded.” “It’s gone too far,” she said. “What happened Saturday was abhorrent.”

Archive link: https://archive.ph/6R9T2

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/us/ileana-garcia-trump-immigration-crackdown.html



"But I didn't know the leopard would eat MY face."
37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Latinas for Trump' Co-Founder Warns Immigration Will Cost G.O.P. the Midterms (Original Post) SunSeeker Jan 2026 OP
Well, bless her heart. nt eppur_se_muova Jan 2026 #1
Welcome to r/LeopardsAteMyFace sakabatou Jan 2026 #2
Suddenly she's worried about her Latino son...because she got stopped. SunSeeker Jan 2026 #3
She's slow BaronChocula Jan 2026 #4
She's slow all right. She definitely gives off Sarah Palin vibes... SunSeeker Jan 2026 #25
WHOA! BaronChocula Jan 2026 #31
Definitely not AI. That's her picture found at the NY Times link in the OP. SunSeeker Jan 2026 #36
"Latinas for Trump" can GO FUCK THEMSELVES Skittles Jan 2026 #5
Absolutely disgusting PatSeg Jan 2026 #11
it always kills me Skittles Jan 2026 #13
I know PatSeg Jan 2026 #20
I think that is what truly what separates Dems from repukes Skittles Jan 2026 #21
I agree PatSeg Jan 2026 #24
She is kinda like a Jewish Nazi Bluestocking Jan 2026 #6
What a turd wolfie001 Jan 2026 #7
I hope it hurts the Republicans horribly. cstanleytech Jan 2026 #8
This will hurt the GOP BIGLY! ProudMNDemocrat Jan 2026 #10
it's funny watching them twist themselves like pretzels Skittles Jan 2026 #14
The leader of Chickens For Colonel Sanders synni Jan 2026 #9
I love it! Her bossie the cow eats hamburger and Big Mac meat! Wonder Why Jan 2026 #17
It's amazing that any minority would support Trump. ificandream Jan 2026 #12
They fell for the "hating others makes you better" thinking trap mdbl Jan 2026 #16
This message was self-deleted by its author mdbl Jan 2026 #15
SER-PRIZE!!! electric_blue68 Jan 2026 #18
I knew Trump was xenophobic and far right on immigration issues before he was elected the first time AZProgressive Jan 2026 #19
The irony.... Xolodno Jan 2026 #22
What is better than the leopards ate my face song? nycbos Jan 2026 #23
these horrible monsters are not expressing remorse for the murders samsingh Jan 2026 #26
- Lemon Lyman Jan 2026 #27
Oh? Then they better do something! Hahahahaha Klarkashton Jan 2026 #28
Latinas for Trump were made in the image of Trump ToxMarz Jan 2026 #29
A bit too late for the "concern". oasis Jan 2026 #30
"Latinas for Trump"?! not fooled Jan 2026 #32
The Republican Party is in Trouble? perdita9 Jan 2026 #33
So if Fat Hitler comes out with a load of word salad about how ICE is being reigned in Bengus81 Jan 2026 #34
The stop sign theory Icanthinkformyself Jan 2026 #35
Blacks for Jefferson Davis, Jews for Adolf Hitler, Latinas for Trump... /nt artemisia1 Jan 2026 #37

SunSeeker

(58,371 posts)
3. Suddenly she's worried about her Latino son...because she got stopped.
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 06:08 PM
Jan 2026

She wasn't worried about all the other Latinos until the racial profiling grabbed her.

BaronChocula

(4,719 posts)
4. She's slow
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 06:16 PM
Jan 2026

What eloquent opining from someone with such lack of self-realization, she thinks she's sharing a new discovery with the world. Is she also a member of Diabetics for Sugar?

SunSeeker

(58,371 posts)
36. Definitely not AI. That's her picture found at the NY Times link in the OP.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 12:45 PM
Jan 2026

She's an idiot for sure. I feel bad for her son. She did this to him. By helping Trump get elected, she enabled racial profiling. She made it a hazard for him (and the rest of us!) to walk our nation's streets with those ICE goons lurking everywhere.

PatSeg

(53,497 posts)
11. Absolutely disgusting
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 07:39 PM
Jan 2026

What did she think was going to happen? That seems to be the only way some people will learn, to have it happen to them or their family and friends.

Skittles

(172,773 posts)
13. it always kills me
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 08:25 PM
Jan 2026

when I see people who just don't give a FUCK what happens to others but start whining when it all starts hitting "too close to home"......inevitably these fucking selfish ASSHOLES call themselves CHRISTIANS which begs the question: just WHAT is their religion teaching them?

PatSeg

(53,497 posts)
20. I know
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:01 PM
Jan 2026

I've been listening to such people all my life as they complain about poor people and "welfare queens". They are quick to say, "If I can make it without any assistance, why can't they?" As if everyone is identical and we all have the same advantages from day one.

Of course, when THEY lose their job or their health insurance, they are first inline for whatever help they can get because somehow THEY are entitled. They claim they earned it but all those other "losers" are lazy cheats.

Then many of them go to church every Sunday completely ignoring almost everything their "lord and savior" taught. Apparently, empathy does not come naturally to everyone.

Skittles

(172,773 posts)
21. I think that is what truly what separates Dems from repukes
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:04 PM
Jan 2026

we don't HAVE to experience something to feel empathy and to want to help - we simply CARE - we, well, DO UNTO OTHERS

PatSeg

(53,497 posts)
24. I agree
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:49 PM
Jan 2026

I think it comes naturally to some people, though others can be taught from a young age in the right environment. Sadly, there are some who just never seem to get it.

As for republicans, I think many of them come from families with the "I have mine" mentality. In other words, they were taught as children to treat empathy and compassion as a weakness.

wolfie001

(7,950 posts)
7. What a turd
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 06:43 PM
Jan 2026

No one here at DU GAF what this POS says OR thinks. She's stupid and represents rich people who USE and then DISCARD poor people.

Skittles

(172,773 posts)
14. it's funny watching them twist themselves like pretzels
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 08:27 PM
Jan 2026

trying to defend the indefensible or pretend they give a fuck about WE THE PEOPLE

synni

(785 posts)
9. The leader of Chickens For Colonel Sanders
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 07:05 PM
Jan 2026

Yeah, honey, you are just a useful idiot, and you are going to be ignored.

ificandream

(11,851 posts)
12. It's amazing that any minority would support Trump.
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 07:49 PM
Jan 2026

What the hell were they thinking he would do for them?

Response to SunSeeker (Original post)

AZProgressive

(29,965 posts)
19. I knew Trump was xenophobic and far right on immigration issues before he was elected the first time
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 09:42 PM
Jan 2026

He called Mexicans who came over here "rapists" (self-projection) in 2016.

I'm not sure why they expected a nuanced border policy that didn't involve racial profiling. That was one of the easiest things about Trump to predict.

Xolodno

(7,366 posts)
22. The irony....
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:26 PM
Jan 2026

...going by memory. When a Log Cabin Republican had some questions for W. Bush, he had the decency to say "I think your voting for the wrong party".

nycbos

(6,721 posts)
23. What is better than the leopards ate my face song?
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:26 PM
Jan 2026

The leopards ate my face song with a mariachi band.

?si=N6WbG-4x4AuVsAk6

ToxMarz

(3,053 posts)
29. Latinas for Trump were made in the image of Trump
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:18 AM
Jan 2026

Last edited Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:00 AM - Edit history (1)

Who they are and what they want is no different. Opportunistic entitled grifters seeking the path of least resistance towards wealth power and entitlement. They hitched their wagon to Trump because they thought they could leverage it the most for their own self-service. They are only concerned now because it could devalue their investment.

perdita9

(1,365 posts)
33. The Republican Party is in Trouble?
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 07:40 AM
Jan 2026

The American people and our democracy are in trouble. Stop worrying about your political party and start paying attention to the actual people you're supposed to represent!

Bengus81

(10,349 posts)
34. So if Fat Hitler comes out with a load of word salad about how ICE is being reigned in
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 09:36 AM
Jan 2026

you'll give the all clear to adore him once again? No..what Latinos need is real leadership that understands what a fucking racist Trump is and your ass kicked out.

Icanthinkformyself

(417 posts)
35. The stop sign theory
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 11:29 AM
Jan 2026

How many people have to die at a dangerous traffic intersection before local big wigs put up a yield sign, then a stop sign and, finally after enough people are dead, a traffic light? We need a traffic light to stop the carnage and we continue to get an unregulated intersection. Has Chuck emerged from under his desk to deliver that much anticipated strongly worded letter?

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