Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s (R-FL) immigration reform legislation, the DIGNIDAD Act, received a lukewarm reception from allies of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit group.The bipartisan legislation provides a pathway to legal status for millions of illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years and can pass a criminal background check. But AFPI allies and the Make America Great Again movement were less than enthusiastic about Salazar’s efforts.
Former California Republican Rep. Michael Garcia said he understood the intent of Salazar’s efforts during a recent AFPI Hispanic Leadership Coalition panel, but claimed the U.S. needed to focus more on solving the immigration problem first before providing a pathway to legal status.
“All these calls for immigration reform are interesting,” Garcia said in response to a Washington Examiner question on Friday. “They’re needed, and in many cases, they’re value added. We have to fix the leak, which is the open border policy. This is four years of very dangerous policy that has now placed close to 20 million people in our country.”
“I want to fix the pipe first. I want to get an accounting of who is here,” he added. “I want to get the criminals out of our society. I want to make sure they can’t vote.”
