What happened? A Republican Congresswoman from Florida and a Democratic Congresswoman from Texas have teamed up to introduce the Dignity Act into Congress.1 If this bill were to become law, it would provide a pathway for some individuals in the country without status to obtain legal status.2 Because, as a reminder, it is next to impossible to access legal immigration pathways once you are already in the country. It would provide Dreamers with a straightforward path to permanent legal status. It would also create new systems for processing asylum applications at the border. In a time when most of the immigration news is marked by cruelty, it’s amazing to have some actual solutions on the table to discuss!
How can I pray? Praise God that politicians have crossed the aisle to work together on this legislation. Pray that hearts will be moved in Congress to support real solutions for our immigrant neighbors. Pray for our undocumented neighbors who are watching and waiting to see what happens.
What is one more thing I can do? Today is my birthday! So I’m going to layer on a tiny dose of birthday privileges and asking you to call your lawmakers as a birthday present to me. :) Call your House Representative and say, “Please support the Dignity Act of 2025.” World Relief has an easy-to-use tool if you’d like to use that!
If your representative is a co-sponsor3, call them and thank them for co-sponsoring! It’s a politically risky thing to support any kind of positive immigration reform, and they need to know their constituents are happy they made the choice!
An additional nine Republicans and nine Democrats signed on as co-sponsors!
This process would include passing a background check and paying a $7,000 fine over seven years. I’ll be honest — anytime this sort of restitution-based approach is suggested, I get a little uneasy. I know a lot of undocumented people may not be able to afford the fines, but I also know that people do want the opportunity to “get right with the law,” and a fine is the normal consequence for other civil law violations. I also think some path to legal status is better than none, and this will be an opportunity for us to raise funds for our immigrant neighbors to access legal status!
So, if you’re represented by any of these folks, you can say thanks!
Republicans (10): María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Mike Lawler (NY-17), David Valadao (CA-22), Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Mike Kelly (PA-16), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Gabe Evans (CO-08), Marlin Stutzman (IN-03), Don Bacon (NE-02), Young Kim (CA-40).
Democrats (10): Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Susie Lee (NV-03), Adam Gray (CA-13), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Mike Levin (CA-49), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Laura Gillen (NY-04), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04).
Happy Birthday, Brittani! Done :). And wouldn't it make a lot of sense to find solutions for people here who are already contributing to our communities and paying taxes, instead of spending billions of dollars to detain and deport millions of people on whom we literally depend for everyday needs? Praying that comprehensive immigration reform can happen one day.
Happy Birthday! Prayer has been prayed and emails have been sent. :-) This bill sounds like a great idea... I hope folks will get behind it.
FWIW of the Sens and Reps from Pgh PA area - Chris DeLuzio strongly supports immigration reform, I'm hoping he'll sign on. Dave McCormack is a carpetbagging MAGA supporter from CT... he doesn't care about PA and is never here (unless showboating with The Man himself). And John Fetterman supports immigration (he's married to an immigrant) but I'm not sure how he's doing these days. :-( Hoping everyone can hang on until midterms.......