Laura Ingraham screenshot from Fox News. Scamnesty / Amnesty Rebranded: Dignity

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Right-wing media lash out at “The Dignity Act,” a bipartisan immigration bill, and attack its GOP co-sponsor

Written by Helena Hind & Isabella Corrao

Research contributions from Jane Lee

Published

On July 15, Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) introduced the bipartisan “Dignity Act of 2025.” The bill aims to grant undocumented immigrants who have been in the country since 2021 up to seven years of legal status. 

Right-wing media attacked the bill as “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants, called for Salazar and GOP co-sponsors to be primaried, and in some cases launched attacks on Salazar that focused on her ethnicity and that she spoke Spanish at a public event.

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  • A Republican lawmaker introduced bipartisan immigration reform legislation

    • The Dignity Act of 2025 allows undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. since before 2021 to apply for up to seven years of legal status with work authorizations. Migrants would have to “pay restitution and check in regularly with the Department of Homeland Security.” [NBC News, 7/15/25]
    • The bipartisan effort is led by Salazar and Escobar. Salazar previously introduced the Dignity Act of 2023, which did not make it to the House floor for a vote. This revived version will “not cost U.S. taxpayers a dime,” instead being fully funded by “restitution payments and application fees made by immigrants.” [WLRN, 7/15/25]
    • This proposal follows the Trump administration’s ICE raids on farms. By the end of June, Trump had promised to find a method for some migrant workers to stay in the U.S., but his administration continues to target farm workers. [NBC News, 7/15/25]
    • Legal status granted through the Dignity Act of 2025 would not lead to a pathway for citizenship or give amnesty. Salazar and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) both assert that this bill is “not amnesty.” [NBC News, 7/15/25; WLRN, 7/15/25; NBC Miami, 7/15/25]

  • Right-wing media attacked the Dignity Act and claimed it is “amnesty”

    • Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk: “Congresswoman Elvira Salazar is a snake.” In a rant against the Dignity Act, Kirk also called Rep. Salazar “chief amnesty czar of the US Congress” and “Miss Amnesty.”  [The Charlie Kirk Show, 7/18/25]
    • Steve Bannon called the Dignity Act “essentially an amnesty bill for the non-bad hombres that are here.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) responded: “There’s not going to be amnesty.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/16/25]
    • Fox host Laura Ingraham repeatedly dismissed immigration reform as “nonsense” and claimed the bill represents “a very negative view on the American workforce.” Ingraham: “Any move toward that nonsense will be fought tooth and nail by. not just MAGA, but by millions of people across the country who are sick of those lies, and frankly, it's a very negative view on the American workforce. I completely reject it and it's been defeated about five times. Just ask Marco Rubio how it worked out for him.” A chyron reading, “Amnesty is a terrible idea” aired throughout the segment. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/17/25]
    • Daily Wire host Matt Walsh claimed that the bill is “so expansive that it would grant legal status to some of the most dangerous and depraved criminals in the country.” [Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 7/17/25]
    • Article III Project’s Will Chamberlain wrote, “It is an amnesty bill for illegal aliens and would absolutely blow the door open on legal migration.” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Kirk called the bill a “ruse” and warned it will “grind President Trump’s mass deportations to a halt.” Kirk: “This is worse than ‘soft amnesty.’ This de facto ends the mass deportations Americans just voted for.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • TheBlaze described the bill as an “amnesty plan.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich called the bill “a great betrayal.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez attacked undocumented immigrants: “If you broke into the United States of America and are here illegally you deserve NOTHING.” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]
    • Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter questioned whether undocumented migrants “deserve dignity.” Schlichter: “What action did they take that earned this from me?” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]

  • Right-wing media criticized Salazar and her co-sponsors, calling for them to be primaried

    • Chamberlain wrote: “The goal here should be to publicly humiliate Salazar and every one of her co-sponsors. GOP legislators should be terrified of touching anything resembling amnesty going forward.” A follow-up post read: “‘Oh, you proposed an amnesty bill? As a Republican? Guess we're dropping $50 million and a credible primary challenger on your district.’” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25; 7/17/25]
    • Walsh wrote, “She’s a disgrace, a traitor, and should be run out of office.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Rogan O’Handley, known online as DC Draino, called Salazar “a backstabbing RINO” who “needs to be primaried.” O’Handley wrote, “Not only does she want amnesty for illegal aliens, but her terrible law explicitly forbids the gov’t from using gang databases to determine if an illegal alien is a gang member. What?! This is anarcho tyranny.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Right-wing political operative Ned Ryun posted, “Unreal. She’s gonna get a primary challenger.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • The Blaze’s Auron MacIntyre wrote that Salazar “should be expelled from the party.” MacIntyre: “She tells Trump that God saved him to give illegals amnesty, then compares illegals not getting citizenship to slaver, then says Trump should act like Reagan who turned California blue with amnesty. This is a Democrat, she should be expelled from the party.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Newsmax’s Chris Plante listed the social media handles of some of the GOP co-sponsors “who support the give Kilmar Abrego Garcia U.S. citizenship bill.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Right-wing writer Ryan Girdusky seemed to direct his social media followers to call some GOP co-sponsors of the bill, listing their names and office phone numbers. Girdusky wrote: “Several Republicans who are running for re-election in safe Trump districts have co-sponsored Salazar’s amnesty for over 10 million illegal aliens. Here are their names and office numbers.” [Twitter/X, 7/16/25]

  • Right-wing media launched attacks against Salazar that focused on her ethnicity and that she spoke Spanish

    • Walsh claimed Salazar wrote the bill “because she’s Hispanic, and, so, she is siding with who she considers her people to be, her countrymen who are not Americans.” Walsh also said that none of the bill’s GOP co-sponsors “should ever receive another Republican vote for any reason ever again, needless to say.” [Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 7/17/25]
    • Chamberlain posted: “Denaturalize and deport Maria Elvira Salazar.” Salazar was born in Miami. [Twitter/X, 7/16/25; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed 7/18/25]
    • In her monologue criticizing the “scamnesty” bill, Ingraham attacked Salazar for addressing reporters in Spanish: “María Salazar unwittingly refuted her own underlying point that millions of illegals deserve a pathway to legal status because they're already integrated into American life. Otherwise, who do you think she's talking to here?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/18/25] 
    • Prominent right-wing account EndWokeness posted the video of Salazar addressing reporters in Spanish, captioned: “Republican Maria Salazar tells Trump to give mass amnesty to illegal aliens… in Spanish.” The clip garnered numerous reposts containing racist attacks on Salazar. [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Former Daily Caller editor Scott Greer reposted EndWokeness’ clip, adding: “When she does interviews in English, she frequently stumbles over her words and can't figure out what she's trying to say. But in her true tongue, she finds the right words.” Greer stepped down from The Daily Caller in 2018 after his contributions to a white supremacist website under a pseudonym came to light. [Twitter/X, 7/17/25; Media Matters, 9/5/18]
    • MacIntyre also reposted the clip, writing: “Maria knows she belongs to a people. She is loyal to those people, speaks their language, servers their interests, fights for them. She knows that Americans are not those people.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]
    • Laura Loomer posted: “Why is a US Congresswoman holding a press conference in SPANISH about how she wants her bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens? @MaElviraSalazar should resign. This is NOT what I voted for.” [Twitter/X, 7/17/25]