OPINION:
A cohort in Congress may not have received the message, but a majority of Americans voted in the last presidential election to secure our nation’s borders and end our reckless immigration system.
Introduced over the summer by Rep. Maria Salazar, Florida Republican, the “DIGNIDAD” (Dignity) Act has the support of 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats.
If passed, it would grant millions of illegal aliens legal residence, provided they have lived in America for more than five years and can pass a criminal background check.
Backers of the Dignity Act insist the legislation is the solution to America’s immigration crisis and likely assume that cloaking mass amnesty with a smattering of border improvements will satisfy skeptics.
It doesn’t.
The bill is stacked with lofty language, including the establishment of “humanitarian campuses” along our southern border.
These newly created nonjudicial entities would be tasked with processing those entering our country illegally in an expeditious and compassionate fashion.
More power is also given to immigration judges, whose responsibilities would consist of determining the final status of an illegal alien in the event of a disagreement on a two-officer asylum panel.
Even the bill’s given Spanish name, “DIGNIDAD,” caters to the multicultural whims sweeping pro-amnesty circles.
The Dignity Act also makes it easier for international students who graduate with STEM degrees to remain in the country after leaving their American universities.
Fresh out of college, some of our youngest citizens would find themselves at a disadvantage, competing with their fellow foreign coeds for the same positions.
The same can be said for American workers, who would potentially be squeezed out of the job market after finding that millions of unlawful aliens would now be eligible for employment under the bill’s provisions.
The Dignity Act aims to change America from what it is today, a country containing several blue-state sanctuary states, into one large sanctuary country.
The Center for Immigration Studies notes that the Dignity Act provides green cards to “between 2.5 and 2.7 million illegal aliens (Dreamers) who came to the U.S. before January 2, 2021, when under the age of 19.”
Although Democrats and mainstream media deliberately advance a charitable narrative depicting “Dreamers” as vulnerable toddlers and innocent babies, the sobering reality is that some of these youthful foreigners are not children. They are approaching 20 years old.
The Dignity Act makes America less safe by allowing foreigners to exploit our nation’s generous asylum laws through rapid processing procedures while instituting a deportation moratorium for those with “dignity” status.
These directives would reverse improved immigration measures made over the past year under the Trump administration.
Proponents of the amnesty bill allege that so-called asylum-seekers will be subjected to rigorous criminal background screenings. Yet many migrants crossing our border hail from countries with sloppy or nonexistent databases.
A foreigner legally permitted to reside in the United States can also travel overseas.
Americans are not immune to visa holders using their freedom of movement for heinous and evil purposes. Consider that the 19 foreign terrorists who hijacked four aircraft on 9/11 and murdered 2,977 civilians entered America on tourist, business or student visas.
At least four of the terrorists overstayed their visas and were considered illegal at the time of the 9/11 attacks. One of the hijackers arrived in the U.S. using a student visa, and the two youngest terrorists first entered the U.S. at age 19, only a year older than today’s “Dreamers.”
More recently, in Maine, Border Patrol caught and arrested four British nationals: Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan and Mohammed Sultan Saleh.
Despite GoPro footage indicating otherwise, the four men, ages 18 to 29, told authorities they were on a hike and didn’t realize they had crossed into American territory from Canada.
It’s worth noting that many poorly vetted foreign nationals no longer come to the U.S. seeking improved employment; they are entering America illegally to subvert our country’s culture and ideals. Their ultimate goal: fundamentally reshaping the American electoral landscape.
The Dignity Act demonstrates a fidelity to unlawful foreigners, incentivizes criminal behavior and, if passed, will create an open-door invitation for more mass migration whose long-term impact threatens the health of our nation and the safety of our citizens.
• Irit Tratt is a writer. She was co-chair of the Trump 47 National Women’s Leadership Coalition. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.
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