Republican Immigration Reform Bill Would Include Work Authorization for Undocumented Immigrants

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s (R-FL) Dignity Act would offer Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship and work authorization as money generated from the program would be used to fund, among other things, apprenticeship grants and state upskilling and on-the-job educational programs.

Returning H-2B worker exemption: The measure would also exempt returning H-2B workers from any one of the three previous fiscal years from counting against the cap, and aims to streamline the H-2B application process.

Outlook: The bill represents a potential thawing of Republican solidarity on immigration positions, as well as a rebuke of the immigration reforms Democrats attempted to pass through the Build Back Better reconciliation legislation, which were denied three times by the Senate Parliamentarian. Notably, the bill does not address high-skilled work visas.