Third Way Endorses the Bipartisan Dignity Act to Bring Order and Fairness to America’s Immigration System

WASHINGTON — Third Way released the following statement from Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Education, & Politics on the House introduction of the Dignity Act, bipartisan legislation to solve the chaos at the border and the chaos in communities from Trump’s mass deportations. 

“Americans are desperate for solutions that deliver order at the border, but they are equally appalled by scenes of masked ICE agents in plainclothes snatching law-abiding parents who have been contributing to their communities for years and locking them up without a hearing. Instead of fixing our broken immigration system, the actions of this administration are destroying it further.

“We need solutions that offer law and order, not terror and chaos. The Dignity Act is a strong and serious proposal that would fund our border, reform our asylum system, and provide a pathway for longtime residents of this country to earn legal status, pay their way, work, and provide for their families. For Dreamers whose lives became a political football, it offers certainty. It would allow those who have another path to earn citizenship to do so but give stability to millions of undocumented people who don’t. And it would invest in American workers while ensuring American businesses have the labor force they need to thrive and grow.

“We support a genuine, bipartisan effort to address this crisis. The Dignity Act answers the urgency this issue demands with the thoughtful and nuanced balancing of equities that the American people deserve. 

“In a moment of fear, political extremism, and posturing, the Dignity Act’s sponsors have outlined a different way to govern. They acknowledge hard truths and take them head on, proving that we still can be a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. It’s crystal clear that we can be neither unless we are both.”