After spending the last two years on the House Judiciary Committee battling Biden’s border crisis, I cannot stay silent while members of Congress bring forward the so-called “DIGNITY Act.” Despite its catchy name, this bill is nothing more than amnesty dressed up in buzzwords — and it’s an affront to every American who believes in law and order.
The “DIGNITY Act,” above all, rewards illegal behavior. This legislation creates a convoluted “Dignity Program” that welcomes illegal immigrants to stay in this country for seven years and eventually apply for permanent residency, while millions of law-abiding immigrants wait in line, playing by the rules. It also prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement from enforcing many of the orders President Trump has given them.
That’s not dignity. That’s a betrayal of our immigration system and a direct incentive for more lawlessness at our Southern border.
The Biden-Harris administration left Trump to clean up the worst border crisis in American history, and I saw it firsthand when I traveled to our Southern border. During Joe Biden’s failed presidency, an estimated 10 million illegal aliens poured into our country. Fentanyl flooded our communities, human trafficking surged, the Biden administration lost track of more than 85,000 migrant children, and our Border Patrol agents were stretched to their breaking point.
The Biden administration spent millions to provide illegal immigrants with cellphones to receive updates on their immigration hearings. They took our phones, but they didn’t take our calls. This week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated that Trump does not support amnesty.
The answer is not to hand out green cards like candy, as this legislation suggests. The answer is to secure the border, finish the wall, end catch-and-release, and work with Trump to ensure his proven policies are codified by Congress to permanently end the invasion that has made every town across the United States a border town.
I was proud to support many of Trump’s border policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The OBBB Act invests in physical border infrastructure, increases the number of Border Patrol agents, and provides funding to maintain detention ICE facilities, expanding detention capacity to at least 116,000 beds.
Under Trump’s leadership, we have already seen historic reductions in illegal crossings, stronger border infrastructure, and a firm stance that American families deserve protection. His “Remain in Mexico” policy keeps asylum fraud in check, construction of the border wall and pay increases have given our border agents the tools they need, and his zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration sends a clear message to the world: America will defend her borders.
American families are tired of Washington politicians selling them out. They want their streets to be safe, their jobs protected, and their laws respected.
President Trump is delivering real reform rooted in enforcement, not amnesty, and I will continue to stand with him and oppose the “DIGNITY” Act. I call on my colleagues in Congress to do the same.
Congressman Barry Moore is the U.S. Representative for AL-01 and lives in Enterprise, Alabama with his family. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Agriculture Committee in Congress.
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