Republican congresswoman presents law to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants in the US

Congresswoman from Florida, U.SMaría Elvira Salazar presented this Tuesday in the US Congress a bill to grant legal residency to millions of undocumented immigrants with a criminal background check, payment of back taxes and a fee for border security.

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The Republican congresswoman’s bill is based on the so-called “Dignity Program” which, if approved, would allow undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for five years to stay in the country and work legally if they meet certain requirements.

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“You can come out of the shadows and live a decent life,” Salazar said today at a press conference.

According to the legislative project, the participants in the “Dignity Program” would have to pass a criminal background check, pay back taxes and start paying others on rent based on the new wages.

In addition, they must pay the federal government $10,000 in restitution over 10 years for having entered the country illegally.

“A thousand dollars a year to live in the promised land is more than acceptable,” said the congresswoman of Cuban origin who represents Florida’s 27th district.

According to the press, the money from the restitution would go to a new Fund for American Workers, which would pay for the job training of the country’s citizens.

People who apply to the program would pay a tax in order to increase the number of Border Patrol agents and update the technology of this federal agency.

“The undocumented workforce is going to pay for border security,” if this measure is approved, Salazar said.

If the bill goes through, eligible participants would be allowed to travel back and forth between the US and their home country and would be legal residents rather than citizens, albeit with the potential for future citizenship.

In a statement, Ali Noorani – president and executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy organization based in Washington DC – said today that “the introduction of the ‘Dignity Act’ represents a decisive and constructive step towards immigration reforms that had been long overdue.”

“We need Republicans and Democrats to build consensus on solutions that strengthen our workforce and our economy, offer certainty to all of us who depend on Dreamers and farmworkers, and establish an orderly and humane process for migrants arriving at our borders” , adds the statement.

“ELECTORALISM” PROJECT

For her part, Vanessa Cárdenas, deputy director of the pro-immigrant group America’s Voice, refuted the bill by saying that “it seems to us to be a press release aimed at immigrant voters in their Florida district.”

“It seems designed to polish his (Salazar’s) re-election chances, not a serious effort to pass legislation or take on nativists in the Republican Party,” Cárdenas added in a statement.

According to a 2020 report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has remained relatively stable, between 10.5 million and 12 million people since the Great Recession of 2007-2009, but the origin of this population has become more diverse.

Earlier this February, Miami-Dade County, in southeastern Florida, approved the creation of an identification for its residents regardless of their immigration status, a measure with which they join other large cities with a large community immigrant.

With this approval, Miami-Dade County joins a list of jurisdictions that offer or recognize identification for undocumented immigrants, such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington DC, among others, and Broward or Alachua counties in Florida.

According to some national media reports today, Salazar has been presenting this migratory project since 2021, but it was this Tuesday that marked his official presentation.

“We look forward to working with Representative Salazar and her colleagues to improve the initial bill and help Congress negotiate smart solutions,” said the leader of the National Immigration Forum.

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Source: Elcomercio

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