The Dignity Act of 2025 (H.R. 4393) is the only major bipartisan immigration reform bill in Congress right now, and it has spent the last week being mischaracterized on X by an army of nativist influencers calling it “amnesty.” I wanted to understand what the bill actually says and what the people working to pass it are hearing from legislators on both sides of the aisle, so I hosted a conversation with two people who understand this bill inside and out and who represent key constituents—American families and American businesses—that have a stake in the outcome.
Ashley DeAzevedo is the Executive Director of AFU Action, the advocacy arm of American Families United, an organization focused on mixed-status American families navigating the immigration system. AFU has been directly involved in developing the bill, particularly around the American Families United Act provisions, which establish a presumption that family separation constitutes hardship. Rebecca Shi is the CEO of ABIC Action, the advocacy arm of the American Business Immigration Coalition, which represents employers across industries who depend on a functioning legal immigration system. I’m grateful to both of them for joining me and for taking questions from the people who tuned in live.
I’m not a legislative expert or advocate. Like a lot of you, I’m trying to understand what Congress can and should do in the midst of one of the most aggressive enforcement periods in modern history. From where I sit, this bill looks like a genuine attempt at compromise — introduced by Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), with nearly 40 co-sponsors split almost evenly across party lines, and more than 60 national endorsers ranging from business groups and faith communities to veterans organizations and agricultural associations. As Ashley said, nobody loves everything in it, and there’s plenty to debate. But the amnesty framing doesn’t survive contact with the actual text. As Rebecca put it: “This bill is not amnesty, because it doesn’t give away anything for free. There is a significant financial penalty, there is a restitution, there isn’t a path to citizenship, and applicants have to go back to the end of the line.”
We also got into the economics, the family separation consequences for U.S. citizens, what Republican legislators are privately saying about labor shortages, and what the pathway to passage actually looks like. If you’re curious about the Dignity Act, I hope you’ll listen. I’d love to know what you think in the comments.
You can learn more about the bill at Congress.gov, and more about Ashley and Rebecca’s organizations at afuaction.org and abicaction.org.
What do you think? I’d like to hear what you think about the Dignity Act.
