[5][6] Ros-Lehtinen's maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews, originally from the Ottoman Empire, who had been active in Cuba's Jewish community.

[7] Her maternal grandfather left the city of Kırklareli for Cuba in 1913, fleeing the devastation and economic collapse caused by the First Balkan War.

[17] Ros-Lehtinen joined Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) on a congressional delegation to the United Nations in order to encourage international support for an end to the genocide in Darfur.

In addition, when Ros-Lehtinen returned from a trip to Darfur in April 2007 where she visited Sudanese refugee camps, she strongly encouraged the United States and the international community to find a solution to this humanitarian crisis.

[20][21] Ros-Lehtinen played a key role in keeping the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010 from being passed into law.

But on March 20, 2011, the day after the NATO strikes to enforce the no-fly-zone began, she expressed a different view in a press release: "I am concerned that the President has yet to clearly define for the American people what vital United States security interests he believes are currently at stake in Libya.

In 2011, she led a hearing about the perils that volunteers faced and the lack of concern for victims of sexual abuse while serving.

"[30] Ros-Lehtinen also said that she was "pleased that the House of Representatives has acted to punish the thugs of the Maduro regime for brutally repressing and violating the human rights of those seeking to exercise their basic freedoms of speech and assembly in Venezuela.

[32] A major individual campaign contributor to Ros-Lehtinen is Irving Moskowitz, a funder of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

[38] The lobby group J Street has called on Ros-Lehtinen to return campaign contributions from Moskowitz, saying he "actively undermines the two-state solution and the foreign policy of the United States by funding illegal settlements in the occupied territories".

[44][45] The National Journal, as cited in the Almanac of American Politics 2016, gave Ros-Lehtinen a composite score of 54% conservative and 46% liberal.

She also supported the de facto government in Honduras, headed by Roberto Micheletti, that emerged after the military coup against President Manuel Zelaya.

"[56] On November 23, 2010, she called on the Obama administration to "announce publicly, right now, that we will stay away from Durban III, deny it US taxpayer dollars, and oppose all measures that seek to facilitate it.

"[57] Ros-Lehtinen opposes US support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East[26] and the Palestinian Authority.

[59] Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, which puts pressure on the Cuban government to bring about political change in Cuba.

Ros-Lehtinen also advanced strongly held views on Cuba, and lobbied against ending the United States embargo against that country.

In 2004 she formed the Cuba Democracy Group aimed at curtailing U.S. agriculture exports and preventing U.S. banks from doing business with the Cuban government.

[60] Ros-Lehtinen has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government,[61] In the 1980s, Ros-Lehtinen lobbied for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been convicted of terrorist acts and has also been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people, helping organize an "Orlando Bosch day" to gain support for his release.

[62][63][64] Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the unsuccessful attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of six-year-old from the Castro regime, describing Cuba as "that system of godless communism".

Twenty-four hours after the controversy erupted, director Dollan Cannell sent unedited tapes of his interview with Ros-Lehtinen to reporters.

[68] Ros-Lehtinen opposed President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised.

While she is not a co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act, she supports anti-hate crime laws, anti-discrimination bills, believes gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces, is a sponsor of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, and voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment.

[77] In 2013, Ros-Lehtinen was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

[78] Ros-Lehtinen has remained active in politics since leaving office, endorsing the Republican campaign of María Elvira Salazar for her old congressional seat in 2020.

[84] In July 2020, she was involved in the Emirates’ attempt of defaming the regional rival Qatar, where a report of 124 pages was published by her.

Entitled Report Concerning Qatar’s Al Jazeera Media Network & The Foreign Agents Registration Act, the report submitted to the FARA claimed that the media agency Al Jazeera was funded, owned, directed and controlled by Qatar.

Both the lobbying firm and Ros were putting efforts on behalf of the UAE to crush the global influence of Al Jazeera.

[85][86] In September 2020, the US Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section opened an investigation into allegations against Ileana Ros that she misused campaign funds.