María Elvira Salazar asks U.S. trade chief to raise Mexico's Cuban doctors program in USMCA review; Sheinbaum pushes back

October 25, 2026

Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, the daughter of Cuban parents, has asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to bring Mexico's hiring of Cuban doctors into the review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The letter, dated October 22, 2026, was posted by Salazar on X the next day, El Universal and El Financiero reported.

Salazar says more than 3,000 Cuban health workers are in Mexico under a program the State Department described as forced labor in its 2025 Trafficking in Persons report. According to the congresswoman, the doctors are separated from their families, face travel restrictions, and some receive as little as 5% of what is paid for their services. She asks Greer to tell Mexican officials that, in her view, the program breaches the agreement's labor chapter, and suggests Mexico pay each doctor directly instead.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the claims at her Friday morning press conference, calling it "false, absolutely false" that the Cuban doctors earn less and saying they "earn exactly the same as a Mexican doctor" and are hired directly, El Mediático reported.

The request comes as the U.S. Trade Representative's office prepares for the 2027 joint review of the USMCA, with public comments open until January 12. For now the letter is a request from a lawmaker, not an official finding of a violation, the newspaper Tribuna noted. Salazar, who represents Florida's 27th District, is up for re-election on November 3.