With all the deportations and human rights violations going on in the US it can be hard to remember that there are still members of both Congress and the Senate that oppose the cruelty that is happening across the country. These representatives are doing everything possible to mitigate the impact and thwart the efforts of a new president hellbent on destroying lives, and one of the latest efforts comes from Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Verónica Escobar, who are fighting to pass a new version of the Dignity Act bill, which would still salvage some of the rights of undocumented immigrants who meet specific requirements and give them a path for legal status.
27th District Florida Republican Representative María Elvira Salazar explained about the revamped bill “The Dignity Act of 2025 is a groundbreaking bill that offers the solution to our immigration crisis: secure the border, stop illegal immigration, and give long-standing immigrants a well-deserved chance to stay and work here. No amnesty. No handouts. No citizenship. Just accountability and a path toward economic stability and a better future.”
16th district Texas Democratic Representative Verónica Escobar, who is also Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee added on her take, by reassuring Americans that it is possible to “enact laws that incorporate both humanity and security, and the Dignity Act of 2025 offers a balanced approach that restores dignity to those who’ve tried to navigate a broken system for far too long.”
What would this Congress bill accomplish?
The thing that most have latched on to is the path towards legalization of status for illegal immigrants. Should it pass, this bill would allow those who have lived the United States for five years or more to apply for temporary 7-year legal status even though they are undocumented immigrants. That means that it would appl to those who have been in the country before 2021.
Those applying for this status update would also need to meet other requirements, like need to pass a criminal background check and pay $7,000 in restitution over the seven-year period for any taxes that they may have missed and as a penalty for their illegal entry. As an additional safeguard, they would not be eligible for federal benefits or aid or allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship during this seven year period. After the seven years are over, they could get a chance at modifying their status and get a different type of visa.
Other provisions in the legislation touch on controversial topics like border security, internal enforcement, asylum processing, economic growth and employment. For example, this new Dignity Act would encourage even more upgrades to the wall between the U.S and Mexico as well as adding more surveillance and monitoring technologies along it to ensure that less people cross illegally. It would also require E-Verify to be used across the country, raise the consequences for unlawful entry into the U.S. and crimes involving child trafficking, and create federally run “humanitarian campuses” near the southern border to manage asylum claims.
Since these types of bills can be unpopular due to funding concerns both Salazar and Escobar assured other lawmakers that the Dignity Act would not rely on taxpayer dollars and that the money that it would collect from those who it helps would fully fund the efforts outlined in the bill. They also claim it would help reduce the national debt, although the amount of money expected to be collected may not end up being as high as one thinks.
For now this is just a proposal and has not yet been voted on by the House of Representatives, and even if it passed it would still need to clear the Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump, which might be an even higher hurdle to clear.