Republicans are taking to social media to both grieve and defend a bill that effectively provides amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler defended the Dignity Act in an Sunday interview, claiming the bill is “common sense.”
“If you’ve been here more than five years — so not the people who came under Joe Biden’s disastrous administration, but the people who have been in this country 5, 10, 15, 20 years, whose children and grandchildren may in fact be American citizens — they would qualify if they haven’t committed a crime, they paid back taxes, they pay a fine, they have a job, and they do not collect government benefits,” he said. “They would qualify for legal status, not citizenship; they would be precluded from citizenship.”
The bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Maria Salazar (FL), advertises itself as a sweeping immigration plan, avoiding traditional amnesty routes. Others argue that the bill is still a form of amnesty.
Texas Rep. Brandon Gill (R) said the Dignity Act is “mass amnesty and would constitute a terrible betrayal of our voters.”
Shooting back on that idea, Salazar responded, “Calling the DIGNITY Act ‘amnesty’ isn’t just wrong. It’s a deliberate distortion and it exposes just how little you know about the bill. This is enforcement first: zero tolerance for criminals, permanent border security, and hard, earned requirements to step forward and face the law, so American workers are protected, not undercut.”
“Amnesty is the chaos you’ve defended, millions in the shadows, no control, no accountability, and a system that stopped working a long time ago,” she argued. “No shortcuts. No giveaways. No blanket forgiveness. That’s law and order. That’s DIGNITY.”
According to the news release on the legislation, the DIGNITY Act is “fully funded through restitution payments and application fees made by immigrants, requiring NO taxpayer dollars.” It further describes the bill as acknowledging a “key truth: most undocumented individuals are not seeking citizenship at all costs, but rather the dignity of living and working legally, contributing to society, paying taxes, being safe from deportation, and traveling to see family during the holidays.”
