Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s bill would not lay out a direct path to citizenship but would give people the chance to earn it through labor and financial penalties if they lack a criminal record.
Catholic Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, is calling for updating “archaic” immigration laws and enacting legislation to provide protections for people lacking legal immigration status in the U.S.
In an interview with EWTN News Nightly Anchor Veronica Dudo that aired on March 11, Salazar said: “We need to start a national conversation as to what [we are] going to do with those people who do not have a criminal record, and they have been contributing to our economy for years.”
The measure, HR 4393, which Salazar named the “Dignity Act,” would give some people who are in the country illegally the ability to earn legal status through labor and financial penalties if they lack a criminal record.
The bill had 39 Republican and Democratic cosponsors as of March 11 but has not received a floor vote in the House of Representatives.
“What are we going to do with them?” Salazar said about people lacking legal immigration status. “We should give them the dignity status, which
