Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) on July 15 introduced the Dignity Act of 2025, a bipartisan immigration reform bill aimed at addressing long-standing challenges within the U.S. immigration system. The legislation seeks, among other goals, to modernize border security, streamline the asylum process, and provide legal pathways for certain undocumented individuals who have long been present in the U.S.

In its current iteration, the Dignity Act includes several provisions with potential implications for the aging services workforce:

Division A, Title IV – Mandatory E-Verify: This section would require all U.S. employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of new hires, phasing in the requirement over two years based on employer size. This provision could entail administrative and compliance challenges for providers—particularly small and rural organizations—while also preventing unauthorized employment.

Division B, Title I – Dream Act: This section would grant conditional permanent resident status to certain undocumented individuals who entered the U.S. as minors—commonly known as “Dreamers” and including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients. To be eligible, an individual must have been present in the U.S. since January 1, 2021, meet certain educational requirements, and pass a criminal background check. These provisions could ensure that Dreamers and DACA recipients working in (or potentially working in) aging services have access to a more permanent status.

Division B, Title III – Dignity Program: This new seven-year program would offer long-term undocumented immigrants a chance to earn legal status, work authorization, and protection from removal if they pass background checks, pay restitution, and work or attend school for at least four of the seven years. Participants must remain in good standing and are ineligible for federal benefits during that period. Although they would be exempt from certain payroll taxes, this provision stipulates that participants in the program would pay a 1% levy on their adjusted gross income that would help fund border security. Upon successful completion of the program, participants would be able to renew their status indefinitely for additional seven-year periods. Temporary protected status holders would be eligible for this program, but only if they have been present in the U.S. since December 31, 2020. This provision could create an expanded pool of workers that LeadingAge members could draw from.

Division B, Title IV – Contribution to American Workers: This section establishes the American Worker Fund, which would be financed by restitution payments from Dignity Program participants. The fund would support workforce training and education, including apprenticeships and work-based learning programs. Grants could go to partnerships serving high-demand sectors, potentially including long-term care, to support upskilling and career advancement for American workers.

Division C, Title II, Section 3202 – Per-Country Caps Raised: This provision would double per-country caps on employment-based green cards (such as the EB-3), helping reduce visa backlogs for workers from countries with historically high demand. Although not likely to alleviate the overall wait times employment-based visas, it would likely benefit applicants from India and China to the detriment of applicants from other countries.

Division C, Title III, Section 3301 – Spouses and Minor Children of Workers: This provision would ensure that dependents of employment-based visa holders are no longer counted against annual visa caps. By removing this bottleneck, more visas would be available for actual workers, including those in direct care and nursing roles. This provision would have the potential to reduce wait times for employment-based green cards significantly.

Division C, Title III, Section 3304 – Modernizing Visas for Students: This provision would allow student visas to be issued with “dual intent,” meaning applicants would no longer have to prove they intend to return home. This change could encourage more international students to pursue long-term careers in the U.S. after completing their education.

This bill represents a serious bipartisan attempt at immigration reform that has the potential to bolster labor pools across multiple sectors, including aging services.

We are pleased to see legislation making a serious effort to break the logjam on comprehensive reform. LeadingAge supports the Dignity Act while we work toward subsequent bipartisan bills that address needed reforms to benefit our members more directly by creating and expanding legal pathways for foreign-born workers to enter the aging services sector. LeadingAge will continue to advocate that these kinds of reforms be added to the Dignity Act or other pieces of legislation, monitor the bill’s progress, assess its impact on providers and the direct care workforce, and advocate before Congress and the Administration for immigration policy that benefits the aging services workforce.