How to Improve the Dignity Act and Make a Better Pitch

Amidst the extensive anti- ICE coverage, there is a bi-partisan reform immigration effort working its way through the U.S House of Representatives. The Dignity Act, introduced by Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) and Veronica Escobar (D) aims to further secure the border, implement enforcement measures, make fixes to our asylum system, provide a Dignity Program to offer a earned 7 year temporary legal status for undocumented immigrants that have been here 5 years or more (since before 2021) after meeting certain criteria, creates a $70 billion fund for training and upskilling American workers, and reforms to our legal immigration system. However, this legislation despite having growing support from members of Congress and national stakeholder groups faces major hurdles to gain the necessary congressional, public and Trump administration support to get to floor and pass. To have a chance, it will need improved mechanisms to address key issues affecting immigration and can overcome major political bipartisan objections. 

How Americans feel regarding significant events surrounding immigration in recent years are instructive for any effective immigration reform effort to make it worthwhile and viable. President Biden’s open border policies that led to a border crisis were rejected by most Americans, which was key in electing President Trump and GOP congressional majorities in 2024. Polls consistently show most Americans want strong border enforcement, which President Trump delivered on. However, they also show that while most Americans believe criminal migrants should be removed, they also believe most law-abiding undocumented immigrants should be given a path to legal status and not experience aggressive ICE efforts to remove them.

The reaction of Democrats and media coverage towards ICE operations that legitimately targets the removal of convicted criminal migrants or the worst of the worst, highlights a major flawed omission in the Dignity Act. Not including the banning of Sanctuary cities. No immigration reform or federal legislation will be effective if cities and states are still able to refuse to enforce or comply with them while emboldening people to violate these laws. Media coverage saturated with anti-ICE sentiments has also been delinquent to hold elected officials accountable with these sentiments whose actions actually have forced more ICE operations into immigrant communities. By these officials fighting to protect the removal of violent migrant criminals, ICE is forced into communities to remove them. Sanctuary cities have consistently refused to honor detainers for violent criminals held in jails and released them into communities. Hundreds in Minnesota, 7000 recently in NY, and maybe soon over 33,000 in CA. Despite the coverage of ‘threats to Democracy’ during the last election cycle, there is an erosive threat to Democracy if Democratically passed laws are ignored, and lawmakers sworn to uphold them actively foment violence to prevent their enforcement and to those that try to. If Sanctuary cities and efforts continue to succeed, it will only embolden the anarchists and seditious motives to oppose enforcing other federal laws.

The main opposition to The Dignity Act from most Republicans and especially the Trump administration is to call it amnesty no matter what, because it offers a 7-year temporary legal status for some undocumented immigrants. However, it behooves Republicans especially after recent protests and most Americans non-appetite to round up and deport all undocumented immigrants, to come up with immigration reform efforts before the midterm elections. Especially, regarding undocumented immigrants who have no criminal records, and are productive. Otherwise, Democrats will decide for them what to do regarding all undocumented immigrants when they retake the White House and have Congressional majorities, since they supported President Biden’s open borders and many now fiercely embrace subverting ICE efforts to remove even criminal migrants now. The best way for the framers of the Dignity Act to overcome this objection of Republicans and reform the legal immigration system would to complement its motives with an ability to prosper (ATP) earned points criteria structure to determine who can apply legally as an immigrant to America, earn a path to have a legal status to stay and who should be expeditiously removed. A points based immigration system mitigates the malaise and backlog of the overly litigious due process immigration system we have now. With an ATP system, either one has the points to reach the threshold for asylum, a certain type of visa, or not and should be removed. There is no dignity without the ambition and ability to independently prosper in America, and such individuals would make immigration better for America again and those who don’t should be removed. 

Unlike the current design of the Dignity Act which creates a program focused on undocumented immigrants that have been here 5 years or more, an ATP system would require all undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, identified, vetted and scored or face immediate detainer to be removed. This would avoid a remaining segment of immigrants left in the shadows to become another immigration cause later. The points structure of the ATP system under the Dignity ACT would award points for having certain skills, education, paying taxes, starting or owning a viable business, being able to fill occupations where there are labor shortages or other productive behaviors. If already vetted under the Dreamer/DACA or temporary immigration statuses, those could be counted as points towards other criteria to earn a legal residential status. Bonus points should be able to be earned if someone can pass a rigorous civics test on America’s founding documents and the Federalist Papers. The ATP mechanism should also award negative points for certain behaviors such as criminal or unlawful behaviors and using government welfare which lead to expeditious removals and bans. Only after being in America for a certain time and maintaining a points threshold could anyone apply for a green card and would have to go to the back of the line of those who already took the existing legal pathways.

A better designed Dignity Act would not only force political factions to do what most Americans prefer for immigration, it would make it better for America.