Combines aggressive border enforcement with broad legalization in a single ~40,000-word bill. On the enforcement side, it authorizes more border barriers, surveillance technology, and DHS waiver authority over federal laws that slow construction; mandates E-Verify nationwide for all employers (phased in over 6-30 months by company size); makes illegal reentry punishable by up to 30 years for repeat offenders; raises the maximum penalty for noncitizen voting from 1 to 5 years; raises mandatory minimums for child sex trafficking from 15 years to 25; and creates new federal crimes for tipping off smugglers about law-enforcement locations. On the asylum side, it builds at least three 'humanitarian campuses' on the southern border where two-asylum-officer panels would issue final decisions within roughly 60 days, with limited judicial review and an automatic expedited-removal track for anyone who fails to enter at a port of entry twice. On the legalization side, it offers a path to permanent residence for Dreamers (people brought to the U.S. as children before 2021) and creates a new 'Dignity Program' that lets undocumented immigrants present since 2020 pay $7,000 in restitution over seven years (deposited into a new fund that first underwrites the bill's costs and then pays down the national debt), give up access to means-tested federal benefits, maintain health insurance, and stay legally in 7-year renewable nonimmigrant status. It also raises per-country green card caps from 7 percent to 15 percent, clears family-based and employment-based backlogs older than 10 years, gives discretion to immigration judges to keep U.S.-citizen families together, creates a new 90-day family-visit visa, redirects H-1B fees toward apprenticeships for American workers in small and mid-sized businesses, and bars routine immigration enforcement at schools, hospitals, churches, and courthouses except in defined emergencies. Total appropriations include $2 billion per year through 2030 for ports of entry plus a $20,000 optional 'premium processing' fee for backlogged petitioners.
- Lets DHS waive any federal law to build border barriers
- Raises maximum prison time for illegal reentry to 30 years
- Raises maximum prison time for noncitizen voting from 1 to 5 years
- Limits judicial review of expedited asylum denials
- Expedited-removes anyone who fails twice to enter at a port of entry
- Mandates DNA collection from adults processed at the border
- Extends the statute of limitations on asylum fraud to 10 years after discovery
- Adds sentencing enhancements of up to 10 years for firearm-involved smuggling offenses
- Lets employers and well-resourced individuals skip green-card backlogs for a $20,000 fee
- Lets DHS waive NEPA, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act for border barriers
- Skips environmental review for border surveillance technology deployment
Congressional Summary
Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act of 2025 or as the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025This bill addresses various immigration-related issues, including by requiring higher pay for U.S. Border Patrol agents, deferring the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status, and implementing a mandatory electronic employment eligibility verification system patterned off the E-Verify system. The bill establishes several programs for individuals present in the United States without lawful status, including a path to lawful permanent resident status for qualified individuals, including those with deferred action for childhood arrival (DACA) status. In addition, the bill establishes the Dignity Program, which defers the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status on a seven-year, renewable basis, provided individuals meet employment or education requirements, pay restitution, and satisfy other conditions. The bill also makes various changes to penalties and processes applicable to individuals entering the United States, for example byincreasing the maximum criminal penalty for individuals previously removed or denied admission to the United States who attempt to reenter,authorizing the use of DNA testing to verify family relationships of immigrants, andestablishing campuses at the border to process asylees.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must create, and U.S. employers must use, a nationwide electronic employment eligibility verification system.Furthermore, DHS may grant relatives of U.S. citizens relief from removal.The bill also increases the per country percentage ceiling for family-sponsored and employment-based visas.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-07-15
- Date Added
- 2026-04-25
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