In committee
DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025
This legislation establishes legal pathways for eligible undocumented immigrants, offering green cards to qualifying individuals brought to the country as children and a renewable, seven-year legal status with work authorization through a new "Dignity Program" for long-term residents who pay restitution fees, back taxes, and an income levy. To balance these pathways, the bill mandates that all U.S. employers use an electronic verification system (E-Verify) to check worker eligibility, increases border security through expanded physical barriers, advanced surveillance, and Border Patrol pay raises, and increases criminal penalties for illegal reentry, scouting, and smuggling. It also sets up dedicated humanitarian campuses and regional centers to accelerate asylum screenings within tight deadlines, limits enforcement actions in sensitive areas like schools and hospitals, and uses immigrant program fees to fund national debt reduction and workforce apprenticeship grants.
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill broadly encompasses the entire U.S. employer and employee base via mandatory E-Verify, as well as multiple undocumented and legal immigrant populations, without specifying exact aggregate headcounts.
Fiscal magnitude$13.6Bprovisional · pending reviewIncludes $10,000,000,000 in direct appropriations for port of entry modernization ($2 billion annually for FY2026–FY2030, Sec. 1203) and $3,610,000,000 in FY2026 authorized agency appropriations (Sec. 3305(c)). Total overall budgetary impact, fee collections, and tax revenues across all provisions are not fully determinable from the text.
Reach94provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Sentencing & corrections−60Status for undocumented+75Levels of legal immigration+70Refugee & asylum policy+20Enforcement & security−65
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- GS-12 Border Patrol agentsReceives a minimum 14 percent increase in the base pay rate for GS-12 agents, along with harmonized pay scales and overtime incentives matching CBP officers (Sec. 1120).
- Attorneys serving at border humanitarian campusesReceives forgiveness of 75 percent of qualifying law school student loan debt upon completing at least four years of full-time legal service at border humanitarian campuses (Sec. 1516).
- Undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children (Dreamers)Gains access to a conditional permanent residence pathway leading to full lawful permanent resident status, work authorization, advance travel parole, and protection from removal for those who arrived in the U.S. at age 18 or younger and resided continuously since January 1, 2021 (Sec. 2102, Sec. 2104, Sec. 2203).
- Undocumented immigrants participating in the Dignity ProgramGains a renewable 7-year nonimmigrant legal status with work and travel authorization and deferred action from deportation, provided they lived in the U.S. since December 31, 2020, pass background checks, and meet program conditions (Sec. 2301, Sec. 2304, Sec. 2305).
- Dependent children of long-term employment visa holdersProtected from losing legal dependent status upon turning 21, granted work authorization incident to status, and given a pathway to lawful permanent resident status after completing college and meeting residency requirements (Sec. 3203).
- Spouses and children of employment-based immigrant visa recipientsSpouses and minor children are exempted from counting against annual statutory numerical caps on employment-based immigrant visas (Sec. 3301).
- Foreign doctoral graduates in STEM and healthcare fieldsExpands eligibility for O-1 extraordinary ability nonimmigrant visas to individuals holding a doctoral degree in a STEM field or health profession from a U.S. higher education institution (Sec. 3303).
- F-1 international studentsPermitted to maintain dual intent, meaning that seeking lawful permanent residency or having a pending immigrant petition does not disqualify them from obtaining or keeping F-1 student status (Sec. 3304).
- Noncitizen U.S. military service membersPermitted to apply for expedited naturalization based on service in an active-duty status or in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve (Sec. 3115).
- Noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizensGrants the Attorney General and DHS Secretary discretionary authority to waive grounds of inadmissibility or deportability and grant relief from removal when separation would cause hardship (Sec. 3112).
- Foreign relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residentsCreates a new 90-day nonimmigrant family visitor visa category allowing relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to visit the United States (Sec. 3114).
Who it burdens
- EmployersMust electronically verify the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires within phased timelines (6 to 24 months), perform reverifications, match photo IDs to employees' physical faces, retain records for inspection, and face increased civil fines and contract debarment for violations (Sec. 1402, Sec. 1408, Sec. 1412).
- Labor recruiters and union hiring hallsSubject to mandatory electronic employment eligibility verification rules and recordkeeping when referring, dispatching, or recruiting workers for employment (Sec. 1402, Sec. 1404).
- Dignity Program participantsMust pay $7,000 in restitution fees over seven years, maintain qualifying health insurance coverage, maintain employment or higher education for at least four years, pay past assessed federal tax liabilities, and pay an additional 1 percent income tax levy (Sec. 2304).
- Foreign students on Optional Practical Training (OPT)Compensation earned during Optional Practical Training (OPT) is made subject to standard Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes (Sec. 3302).
- Sponsors of unaccompanied migrant childrenSubjected to mandatory biometric criminal background checks (including household members) and required to provide regular post-release check-in calls and address updates (Sec. 1511).
Who backs it
- Dignity Program participantsImposes an additional 1 percent income tax levy and up to $7,000 in restitution fees on participants to finance the Immigration Infrastructure and Debt Reduction Fund and workforce apprenticeship programs (Sec. 1204, Sec. 2302(1)(C), Sec. 2304(b)(2), Sec. 2304(b)(9)).
- Immigrant visa backlog applicants using premium processingPays a $20,000 premium fee per applicant to expedite immigrant visas or adjustment of status from backlogs pending over 10 years, which is deposited into the Immigration Infrastructure and Debt Reduction Fund and the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (Sec. 1204(e), Sec. 3201(F)).
Who opposes it
- Individuals transmitting law enforcement movements to aid illicit border crossings or traffickingCreates a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison for knowingly transmitting law enforcement location or movements to assist immigration violations, drug trafficking, or related offenses (Sec. 1301).
- Human smugglers and accomplices possessing firearmsAdds up to 10 years of imprisonment to existing criminal sentences for alien smuggling or assisting unauthorized entry if the offender possessed, carried, or used a firearm (Sec. 1302).
- Noncitizens convicted of unauthorized reentry into the United StatesIncreases maximum criminal sentences up to 10 to 30 years for unauthorized reentry depending on prior felony convictions or repeated removals (Sec. 1304).
- Spouses and children of illicit drug traffickersExpands visa ineligibility rules to bar current and former spouses, sons, and daughters of illicit drug traffickers (Sec. 1306).
- Individuals submitting fraudulent or frivolous asylum applicationsPermanently bars individuals who knowingly submit frivolous asylum applications from receiving any federal immigration benefits, and establishes criminal penalties for fraudulent statements or documents in asylum proceedings (Sec. 1506, Sec. 1508).