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By Daniela Torres
June 30, 2023 (Washington D.C.) --
Representatives María Elvira Salazar of Florida and Veronica Escobar of Texas have proposed a bipartisan immigration bill, the Dignity Act, that will address issues like providing immigrants with a path to citizenship, while also strengthening border security.
Salazar has been working on the bill alongside Escobar since December of 2022 before introducing it in late May.
The original cosponsors of the bill include Reps. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR), Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY).
The bill addresses 4 core principals: “(1) stopping illegal immigration; (2) providing a dignified solution for undocumented immigrants living in America; (3) strengthening the American workforce and economy; and (4) ensuring the United States remain prosperous and competitive in the future.”
The bill would provide $25 billion to protect the border. The funding would go towards increasing border patrol personnel, enhanced physical barriers, and newer technology to keep people from illegally crossing.
In addition, Operation Stonegarden would be funded under the bill and would provide funds to “state, county, tribal, and other entities near the border to help enhance border security.”
The border must first be declared as secured before anyone is given the opportunity to gain legal status. Undocumented individuals could be granted legal status under the Dignity Program when following the listed the requisites:
- The individual must have resided in the US for at least 5 years
- Pay a $5000 fee over the course of 7 years (the duration of the program)
- Passing a criminal background test
- Pay any outstanding taxes
- Begin or continue paying taxes
This would allow previously undocumented workers to work and travel anywhere freely. However, 1.5% would be levied from their income and deposited into the immigration infrastructure fund. US taxpayer funds will not go towards the Dignity Act.
The Redemption Program is a secondary five-year program following the Dignity Program, which would allow applicants to be potentially eligible for citizenship. Applicants must learn English and U.S. civics, as well as contribute to their community or pay an additional $5000 in restitution.
As for asylum seekers, processing time would be sped up to 60 days - with the initial screening being made within the first 15 days and the second one being made between days 15-60. The bill would also authorize humanitarian campus in which migrants can “meet with legal counsel, be interviewed by officials to discuss their asylum claim, and have their case determined by asylum officers.”
Regional processing centers would be established in areas across Latin America where individuals would be pre-screened for asylum eligibility.
According to Salazar’s website, the proposal has gained the support numerous organizations which have advocated for immigration reforms. This includes prominent business groups, such as the National Retail Federation and U.S.Chamber of Commerce, as well as faith-based organizations, labor groups, and immigrant rights advocates.
Jon Baselice, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice President of immigration policy, says,”This proposal contains the types of bipartisan solutions needed to secure our borders, fix our asylum system, and help American companies meet their workforce needs. We look forward to working with the bill’s sponsors to get these desperately needed reforms to our nation’s broken immigration system enacted into law."
“For too long, immigration reform and border security have been pitted against one another. That shouldn’t be the case. This proposal provides a framework that encompasses both of those perspectives and, more importantly, starts from the position of affirming the inherent dignity and worth of each and every individual,” says President Brent Leatherwood of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“We understand the need to find immigration solutions at the border and in other key areas and urge Congress to work together to find a compromise and include it in any legislation that will pass in 2023," states the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition.
As of now, the Dignity Act has not received a a bill number due to its recent introduction. It may take a while before any progress is made.
The bipartisan bill is bound to induce conflict from both Republicans and Democrats, but it can be seen as a courageous step forward in introducing a possible solution for the decades long issue of immigration.
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