Salazar to plans reintroduce 'Dignity Act' immigration bill 

Representative Maria Elvira Salzar (R-Fla.) plans to reintroduce her Dignity Act proposal to address immigration-related issues during her second term, which starts in about a month. 

“Both parties understand and recognize that we have a major mess at the border, we have problems at the economy, we need hands to work, we have supply chain problems, we have high inflation, and my bill ... I believe will solve all those problems overnight,” Salazar told LocalNews 10 in an interview. 

Salazar first introduced a previous draft of the bill on February 8. The bill called the Dignity Act, stands for an acronym for “Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream.”

The Dignity Act, meant to be a blue blueprint for a comprehensive immigration reform in the country, consists of three core principles: “stopping illegal immigration, providing a dignified solution for immigrants living in America, and strengthening the American workforce and economy.”

The bill includes several measures to deal with the immigration crisis at the border, which is seeing record-breaking numbers of undocumented migrants attempting to cross into the United States. 

The Dignity Act would order the Department of Homeland Security to resume the construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, deploy additional National Guard members to provide support at the border, and require more U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel at the border, among other measures. 

Additionally, the bill would remove deferral for eligible non-U.S. nationals, provide a path for permanent resident status to “Dreamers,” and improve the treatment of minors without immigration status. 

Original co-sponsors of the bill include Dan Newhouse (WA-04), John Curtis (UT-03), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (PR), Tom Reed (NY-23), and Peter Meijer (MI-03).