A bipartisan immigration reform bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, and two other lawmakers aims to overhaul the nation’s immigration system by shifting border enforcement priorities and allowing long-term undocumented residents to apply for legal status.
The Dignity Act of 2025, co-sponsored with Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican, and Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas, prioritizes enforcement against violent offenders while offering legal stability to undocumented immigrants with no serious criminal history.
The bill was introduced with 17 other original co-sponsors, nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
The legislation introduces what Carbajal calls “commonsense solutions,” including nationwide use of E-Verify, investing billions of dollars in border infrastructure and allowing undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since at least 2020 to apply for legal status through a structured seven-year program known as the Dignity Program.
While the Dignity Program would not provide a path to citizenship, it would offer undocumented residents the ability to live and work in the U.S. legally and indefinitely.
Participants would receive work and travel authorization, protection from deportation and could renew their legal status every seven years.
The bill includes a separate path to permanent residency and citizenship for Dreamers, or immigrants brought to the United States as children.
“Immigrants have long been key to the American economy’s success, and I believe it’s in our country’s best interests to ensure the world’s talent can continue to come here,” Carbajal said in a statement announcing the bill.
To reduce visa backlogs, the bill proposes raising per-country limits, exempting spouses and children from annual quotas and modernizing the employment-based system.
In an effort to speed up what lawmakers describe as an “overburdened” asylum process, claims would be handled at new regional centers at the border and abroad, with required interviews and rulings set to take place within weeks instead of months or years.
The bill is divided into three sections (Divisions A through C): border security and enforcement, legal status and protections, and visa reforms intended to support the U.S. workforce.
Border Security and Enforcement
Division A of the Dignity Act would expand border security through new technology, infrastructure and staffing. It calls for increased aerial surveillance, upgraded barriers and improved monitoring along the southern border.
The bill would raise Border Patrol base pay and formalize processing coordinator roles to strengthen staffing and improve intake procedures. It also would set aside $10 billion over five years to modernize ports of entry and expand inspection capacity.
Nationwide use of E-Verify would become mandatory, starting with large companies and gradually applying to smaller employers. Penalties for hiring unauthorized workers or using false documents would increase.
Legal Status and Protections
Division B outlines the Dignity Program, a legal status path for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country since at least 2020 and pass background checks.
The Dignity Program would provide seven years of work and travel authorization in exchange for meeting requirements such as paying taxes, making restitution payments and maintaining good legal standing.
Applicants also must meet education, employment or military service criteria and pass English and civics tests.
Participants would not receive federal benefits and would be required to check in regularly with immigration officials.
Visa Reforms and Workforce Pathways
Division C would aim to reduce visa backlogs by expanding legal immigration in an effort to retain skilled workers. It would raise per-country green card caps, exclude spouses and children from annual limits, and allow applicants waiting more than 10 years to pay for expedited processing.
The bill also would streamline employment-based visas. STEM graduates with doctorate degrees could qualify for a special visa reserved for individuals with advanced skills, and student visas would no longer require proof of intent to leave after graduation.
Children at risk of aging out during the visa process would be protected from losing eligibility.
A summary of the bill is available here, and the full text can be viewed here.