World Relief Praises Reintroduction of Bipartisan Dignity Act as Alternative to Dehumanizing, Family-Separating Detention & Deportation Policies

Contact: wr@pinkston.co

(Baltimore, MD) July 15, 2025 – Today, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, led by Republican Maria Salazar of Florida and Democrat Veronica Escobar of Texas, introduced a new version of an immigration reform bill called the Dignity Act. World Relief is encouraged by this good-faith bipartisan effort and urges all Members of Congress and the Trump administration to work together to pass urgently-needed reforms into law.

The bill [link] proposes an earned legalization process for immigrants in the country unlawfully who pass a criminal background check, pay a significant fine as restitution for their violation of an immigration law and meet other requirements, including having been present prior to 2021. It would allow Dreamers — individuals brought to the U.S. as children —  the opportunity to pursue permanent legal status and eventual citizenship through an expedited process. It also invests in new resources to ensure safe, orderly and humane processing of asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The Dignity Act is being reintroduced as recent polling affirms that the vast majority of Americans believe that immigration has benefited the United States and that immigrants in the country unlawfully should have the opportunity to pursue legal status. It also comes weeks after Congress narrowly passed and the president signed a budget reconciliation bill that dramatically increased funding for detaining and deporting immigrants — a process that is increasingly affecting the longstanding residents of the United States without criminal records to whom the Dignity Act would provide a more humane alternative.

“Over the past several weeks, many evangelicals across the country have been dismayed by images and stories of families being separated by immigration enforcement actions, church members being detained, businesses disrupted and threats of deportation to people who have lived peaceably in this country for many years. With a surge in immigration enforcement resources in the funding bill that passed recently, these dynamics are likely to increase,” said  World Relief president & CEO Myal Greene. “Surely, there must be a better way, and this bill represents an approach that respects the rule of law but also is compassionate and humane.”

As a Christian organization, World Relief’s advocacy for immigration reforms is rooted in biblical principles, including treating all people in recognition of their God-given dignity, preserving the unity of the family and respecting the God-ordained role of government in ensuring safety, order and the rule of law. Today, World Relief joined many other evangelical organizations in sending a letter [link] to congressional offices affirming the Dignity Act’s approach. 

“The Dignity Act hits the sweet spot of evangelical Christians’ immigration policy concerns,” said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief. “Evangelicals do not want families to be separated by deportation, and they’re increasingly troubled by the administration’s indiscriminate immigration enforcement, which often separates marriages or removes moms and dads from their children. But most evangelicals are also uncomfortable with an amnesty approach that simply ignores past violations of immigration law, without penalty. The Dignity Act’s approach — allowing undocumented immigrants to earn permanent legal status by paying a significant fine and meeting other requirements — is a way to both honor the law and show compassion.” 

Paired with improvements to border security, as this bill also does, this approach is favored by more than three-quarters of evangelical Christians, according to a poll conducted by Lifeway Research earlier this year. Nearly two-thirds of evangelical Christians said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate in future elections who embraced this sort of immigration reform, while only 12 percent said support for such a policy would make them less likely to vote for a candidate.

World Relief has prepared easy-to-use tools to help individuals to reach out to their congressional offices to encourage them to consider the Dignity Act’s common-sense approach, which would minimize family separations and recognize the God-given dignity of all people.