What Is the Immigration Dignity Act and What Does It Do?

The Dignity Act is a pending bipartisan immigration bill in the U.S. House that would create a roughly 12-year pathway to a green card for certain undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years, in exchange for restitution payments, ongoing work or school, background checks, and civic requirements. It pairs that pathway with a border security certification, a nationwide E-Verify mandate for employers, faster asylum processing, and changes to the legal immigration backlog. Reintroduced in July 2025 as H.R. 4393 by Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX), it is not law and none of its provisions are in effect.¹

Where the Bill Stands

H.R. 4393 was referred to the House Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and remains pending there as of its most recent action in July 2025.¹ The 2025 version was introduced with 18 House co-sponsors. An earlier version, H.R. 3599, was introduced in 2023 and expired at the end of the 118th Congress without a floor vote.² Everything in this article describes what the bill would do if enacted, not current law.

Who Could Qualify and the Seven-Year Dignity Program

The bill’s central feature is a seven-year Dignity Program open to undocumented individuals who have been in the United States for more than five years.³ Applicants would need to pass a criminal background check and security screening. People with serious criminal convictions would be excluded. Participants would receive protection from removal and authorization to work.

The financial obligations are substantial. Each participant would owe $5,000 in restitution to the federal government, paid across the seven years, plus a 1.5% levy on every paycheck. The levy would flow into a dedicated Immigration Infrastructure Fund used to run the program.³ Participants would check in with the Department of Homeland Security every two years and stay in good standing, which the bill defines as holding a job or attending school and avoiding criminal activity.

Status is contingent throughout. Falling behind on payments, losing employment, or picking up a disqualifying offense could mean losing legal status and facing removal. The bill also includes protections for DACA recipients within this framework.¹

The Redemption Program and the Green Card

Participants who finish the Dignity Program could enter a five-year Redemption Program, a conditional status that still allows work and travel. The requirements shift toward civic integration. Individuals would need to demonstrate English proficiency, pass a U.S. civics assessment, and either perform community volunteer work or continue paying into an American Worker Fund.

At the end of the combined 12 years, someone who has met every requirement would be eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency. The Dignity Act does not create a direct path to citizenship. Naturalization would still require the additional years of permanent residency called for under existing law.

The Border Security Trigger

The Redemption Program cannot begin until the federal government certifies that the border is fully secure and that a mandatory E-Verify system is operational.⁴ The Department of Homeland Security would need to achieve operational control and situational awareness across the entire southern border before certification. Without that certification, no participant advances to the second phase, regardless of how many years they have completed in the Dignity Program.

To meet the standard, the bill calls for a National Strategy for Border Security involving physical barriers, surveillance technology, additional Border Patrol agents and support staff, and high-energy scanners at ports of entry. How long certification would take in practice is not fixed. The bill does not specify what happens to Dignity Program participants if the trigger remains unmet after their seven years are up.

Mandatory E-Verify for Employers

The bill would require every U.S. employer to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm that new hires are authorized to work. The mandate would phase in over two years based on employer size, starting with the largest companies. E-Verify is currently voluntary for most employers under federal law, though some states already require it.

For small businesses and agricultural employers in particular, the change would mean updating hiring processes and, in some cases, investing in new compliance infrastructure. The mandate also functions as verification infrastructure for Dignity Program participants who need to prove lawful employment during their seven years of status.

Asylum Processing Changes

The bill would create Humanitarian Processing Centers near the border to replace the current mix of detention and court-based processing. Asylum seekers and families would be housed at these centers for initial screenings, biometric collection, and medical evaluations. Asylum officers would have expanded authority to conduct credible fear interviews and make initial determinations, with a target of resolving most cases within 60 days of arrival.⁵

Claims that fail the initial screening would go to streamlined removal proceedings. Claims that advance would move through a structured legal review, with families kept together. Whether the 60-day goal is achievable given existing court backlogs would depend on staffing and funding.

Agricultural Workers

Farmworkers have a separate track. The bill would create a Certified Agricultural Worker status for individuals who can show at least 575 hours of agricultural labor during a specified period before the bill’s enactment.⁶ Workers who fall short of that threshold but otherwise qualify could receive H-2A nonimmigrant status through a sponsoring employer.

Certified Agricultural Worker status could be extended in additional multi-year increments if the worker continues to meet the 575-hour annual labor requirement, with exceptions for illness or injury that prevent meeting the threshold in a given year.⁶ Workers who keep their status long enough could eventually apply for permanent residency. The H-2A visa program itself would be modified to accommodate year-round operations like dairy farms, which do not fit the traditional seasonal framework.

Green Card Backlog and Legal Immigration

The bill also targets the legal immigration system. It would raise the per-country cap on family-sponsored and employment-based green cards from 7% to 15%, aimed at shortening wait times for applicants from high-demand countries such as India and the Philippines. For applicants who have already been in the queue for 10 years or more, it would create an optional fast-track option with a $20,000 premium processing fee; applicants who do not pay stay in the standard queue at no disadvantage. The bill sets a goal of eliminating the green card backlog by 2035.

It would also protect “Documented Dreamers,” children brought to the United States legally on their parents’ work visas who currently risk losing status when they turn 21 due to backlogs.¹ Under existing rules, a child who ages out while a parent’s petition is processing can lose dependent status and must find another visa category or leave the country. The Dignity Act would close that gap.

What the Bill Does Not Do

Two limits are worth being explicit about. The Dignity Act does not offer a direct path to citizenship; the 12-year process leads to a green card, and naturalization is a separate later step under current law. And it does not guarantee completion. The restitution payments, paycheck levy, employment or school requirement, and the border security trigger all create points where a participant could lose status before reaching permanent residency. Because the bill is still in subcommittee, any of these provisions could change before a vote.

1
Congress.gov. H.R.4393 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025
2
Congress.gov. H.R.3599 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2023
3
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar. Salazar and Escobar Introduce Bipartisan Dignity Act
4
Congressman Dan Newhouse. The Dignity Act – Brief Background
5
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar. The Dignity Act of 2025 – Summary
6
Congress.gov. H.R.3599 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2023 – Text