Dignity Act will hurt cartels, stop raids, Democrats say

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – In a country deeply divided on illegal immigration, a handful of Democrats remain hopeful they can garner enough GOP support to pass a comprehensive immigration bill.

But its cosponsor acknowledges the success of The Dignity Act 2025 requires getting the White House on board.

“The bipartisan path is critical. I know we have more Republican supporters than the 11 on the bill, but there are a number of Republicans who are waiting on a signal form the White House – essentially waiting to see if Donald Trump will support the legislation,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said on Wednesday.

There is no indication so far that Trump, who is making mass deportations a priority in his administration, supports The Dignity Act.

The bill cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, calls for a renewable, seven-year legal status for long time undocumented immigrants with no criminal record. It also proposes letting asylum-seekers apply from abroad to prevent them from falling prey to criminals as they march to the United States.

“We have to get Democrats and Republicans to stop fighting each other and go after our common enemy, the cartels that are making billions of dollars by exploiting people as they bring them to the border,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-New York.

Speaking at a Center for American Progress conference, Suozzi and Escobar said remote asylum applications, as proposed in the bill, will hit the cartels in the pocketbook and save lives.

Suozzi said he visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona last week and learned how illegal immigration has risen in the past few weeks as cartels lure migrants to the border by lying on social media that the U.S. is again letting in asylum-seekers.

The cartels are flying drones on the Mexican side to monitor U.S. authorities and sending groups of migrants across certain areas so they can attempt to smuggle drugs in other areas, he said.

Suozzi said he isn’t opposed to more border security but insists The Dignity Act is an alternative to stepped up immigration enforcement that is tearing families apart in the interior of the United States. The more undocumented workers who are vetted and receive “dignity” status, the fewer will be susceptible to being targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“We want the border secure. We want to deport violent criminals. I’m for that. That’s good,” he said. “But we don’t want people in masks breaking the windows of landscapers’ trucks and dragging them and putting them in handcuffs. We don’t want to see 30 percent to 70 percent of people detained (despite) not having a criminal record. So, let’s focus on our common enemy: The cartels.”

Given the politically charged environment on immigration, Escobar said she and Salazar made changes to the original 2023 bill including taking out a direct path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The section on requiring employers to verify workers’ eligibility through the federal government’s E-Verify platform remains.

“This is one of the most important issues that our country is dealing with in many ways. It’s also the most toxic challenging issue to deal with politically and we’ve never been more divided on this issue as far as I’ve seen in my lifetime though it’s been a divisive issue for decades,” Escobar said.

She called the scaled-back Dignity Act an “imperfect bill,” but one that has a chance to get support form both sides of the aisle.

“We need people to get on the train. Let’s get moving and let’s get this done in a bipartisan way. Get it off the table as a political cudgel, get our economy moving with the benefits that this incredible workforce brings … and stop the inhumanity,” the Democrat said.