DIGNIDAD Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill is titled the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025. It is a large, multi-part proposal that would change many parts of U.S. immigration law. Key parts include:

• Border security: strengthened requirements for physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, and border technology; higher Air and Marine Operations flight hours; use of unmanned aircraft systems; new advisory committees and a Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission; required threat analyses and a Border Patrol strategic plan; more training and minimum pay increases for Border Patrol agents; and authorization of a multi-year body-worn camera pilot.
• Ports of entry and infrastructure: authority to build or expand ports of entry, and a new trust fund called the Immigration Infrastructure and Debt Reduction Fund to receive certain fees and deposits.
• Criminal enforcement: new or expanded criminal penalties for illicit "spotting," unlawfully hindering border controls, illegal reentry, and other offenses; increased mandatory minimums for some crimes; and requirements for DNA testing and collection in certain situations.
• Mandatory employment verification: a nationwide, mandatory employment eligibility verification system (an updated E-Verify) with phased deadlines by employer size, rules on documents and photo-matching, penalties for noncompliance, and related protections and programs (including SSA funding agreements and pilot programs for identity authentication).
• Asylum and humanitarian processing: creation of "humanitarian campuses" on the southern border for screening, medical checks, legal orientation, and expedited asylum determinations; procedures for recording interviews; expanded penalties for asylum fraud; prescreening facilities in the Western Hemisphere; and new staffing requirements.
• Dignity Program and DREAM provisions: a new Dignity Program offering deferred action, employment and travel authorization, and a 7-year Dignity status for eligible long-term residents; a conditional permanent-resident pathway for certain people who arrived as children (a DREAM Act title) with eligibility, waiver, and removal-of-conditions rules; and rules on fees, reporting, work, taxes, and limitations on federal means-tested benefits for participants.
• Workforce and visa changes: reforms to reduce visa backlogs, raise per-country caps from 7% to 15%, changes for student visas and dual intent rules, expanded naturalization paths for military service, and funding authorizations to support USCIS, State Department visas, and foreign labor certification processing.

What it means for you#

• If you live or work near a border area: the bill would authorize more physical barriers, roads, lighting, sensors, towers, and surveillance technology, and it allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive some legal requirements for faster construction.
• If you are an employer: most employers would have phased deadlines to use the updated employment eligibility verification system. The bill increases civil penalties for some violations and includes a process for tentative nonconfirmations and appeals.
• If you are an asylum seeker: the bill would create humanitarian campuses where initial medical, biometric, and credible fear screenings would occur. It also sets procedures for expedited asylum determinations and for recording interviews.
• If you are an undocumented person present since late 2020: you may be eligible to apply for the Dignity Program or, if you entered as a child and meet education or work criteria, for conditional permanent resident status under the DREAM Act title. Approved Dignity participants must meet reporting, work, tax, health coverage, and payment requirements and would be ineligible for Federal means-tested benefits while in the program.
• If you are a State or local official: the bill creates advisory bodies and a 30-member Border Oversight Commission with required reporting and public reports. It also gives States limited roles under the E-Verify enforcement provisions described in the bill.

Expenses#

• Section 1203 authorizes $2,000,000,000 for each fiscal year 2026 through 2030 to carry out the border and ports of entry infrastructure subtitle.
• The bill creates the Immigration Infrastructure and Debt Reduction Fund to receive amounts equivalent to certain taxes and fees tied to the Dignity Program and related premium processing fees; remaining amounts may be used to pay down the national debt after program expenditures are completed.
• The Dignity Program requires participant payments: a required initial restitution payment of at least $1,000 at application and additional payments of at least $1,000 every two years until a total of $7,000 is paid (with specified exceptions for some temporary protected status holders).
• Section 3305 authorizes appropriations for FY2026 of: $2,560,000,000 to USCIS Operations and Support; $825,000,000 to the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs and Visa Service; and $225,000,000 to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification.
• The bill directs that 50% of a specified premium processing fee be deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account to fund immigration benefit processing.
• The bill requires an agreement between SSA and DHS to provide funds to SSA for its verification and response responsibilities.
• No publicly available information on total net budgetary effect, overall cost estimates, or long-term fiscal impact beyond the specific authorizations and fee rules included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill's stated purpose in its text is "to secure the border and reform the immigration laws." Sponsors and supporters in the bill text propose a combined approach that adds border security measures, criminal enforcement changes, a pathway or temporary relief for certain long-term residents and people who arrived as children, mandatory employment verification, and investments in ports and immigration processing to achieve those goals.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.