By A bipartisan immigration bill unveiled this week has thrust a wedge into the Republican Party, challenging the supremacy of former President Donald Trump’s hardline border agenda and provoking a furious backlash from conservative purists.
On July 15, Florida Republican Congresswoman Maria Salazar, flanked by Texas Democrat Veronica Escobar and two dozen bipartisan cosponsors, introduced the Dignity Act of 2025. Framed as a tough but compassionate reform effort, the legislation aims to bolster border security, mandate E-Verify nationwide, and grant long-term undocumented immigrants work authorization—without offering a path to citizenship.
“The Dignity Act of 2025 is a revolutionary bill that offers the solution to our immigration crisis: secure the border, stop illegal immigration, and provide an earned opportunity for long-term immigrants to stay here and work,” Salazar declared at a Capitol Hill press conference. “No amnesty. No handouts. No citizenship. Just accountability and a path to stability for our economy and our future.”
The plan targets those who have lived in the U.S. at least five years without criminal records. Participants must pay $7,000 in restitution over seven years, remain employed, and abstain from public benefits like Medicare. In return, they would gain renewable work permits and deportation protections—provisions that, Salazar insists, reinforce American values of “dignity, not amnesty.”
Supporters say the measure reflects conservative realism. “We must do this by fixing our broken legal immigration system, securing our borders, and creating a fair, earned process for those who are already here and contributing,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican. His colleague from California, Rep. David Valadao, agreed: “It’s past time for Congress to move reasonable immigration reform that restores law and order, ends illegal immigration, and provides a solution to undocumented immigrants—who meet certain requirements—the chance to live and work here legally.”
The “moderate” solution being pitched, however, is simply allowing undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. since prior to 2021 to apply for up to seven years of legal status with work authorization.
The new bill was slammed by conservatives, however, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. In a Newsweek interview, Bannon labeled Republican backers of the bill “traitors” and accused them of “selling out the America First agenda.” Although the Dignity Act explicitly denies a citizenship path, Bannon warned it amounted to “amnesty by another name.”
“Don’t get me wrong, the reason that we have the situation that we have with 10 or 20 million coming in during [President Joe] Biden’s term…is because of RINO [Republicans In Name Only] Republicans that have wanted and teased amnesty to attract people. The whole DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] fight and everything about amnesty attracts more people coming here ’cause they figure if they come here, they’re eventually going to get a path to citizenship.”
This issue is “exactly” what has galvanized a stronger conservative of minorities, including Hispanics and African Americans, to vote more heavily for Trump in 2024, Bannon added.
“[They are] finally coming our way and voting for us exactly on this issue, that there’s not going to be any path to citizenship for anyone coming here illegally,” he said. “People know that’s what’s driving down wages and making the schools intolerable, and destroying health care and deferring healthcare. It’s a political winner.
“But Salazar and people like her, her co-sponsors are always going to continue to bring her fantasy, and that just attracts more people to the United States.”
Bannon told the magazine that the legislation has “zero chance” of going anywhere in Congress.
Maria Salazar says the quiet part out loud… this is an amnesty withe right to vote and will ensure Democrats take back the White House.
All the Republicans supporting the bill like @RepStutzman have been lying that it’s not an amnesty. https://t.co/vL13gDl1oa
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) July 21, 2025
The divide underscores broader tensions in the GOP. White House Border Czar Tom Homan has reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to mass deportations, even for undocumented workers in key sectors—a clear rebuke to Salazar’s approach.
Salazar says she’s in regular contact with House Speaker Mike Johnson and remains hopeful. “I am sure that President Trump, who is a very smart — and who knows how to put deals together, will pay attention to the Dignity Act.”
Whether Trump’s political calculus shifts remains to be seen. The bill’s prospects are uncertain in a Republican-led Congress still beholden to Trump’s base. Bannon has already warned that GOP defectors “will face the wrath of the grassroots” for defying the former president’s stance.
Yet Salazar sees her proposal as a unifying compromise. “The American people want security, dignity, and a system that works,” she said. “The Dignity Act makes that possible.”
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