The House recently introduced the Dignity Act of 2023 with the goals of reducing illegal immigration, providing a solution for undocumented immigrants, strengthening the American workforce, and growing the U.S. economy. In a new insight, Labor Market and Immigration Policy Analyst Isabella Hindley examines the bill’s Dignity Program, which would grant work authorization to undocumented immigrants if, among other conditions, they paid “restitution” into the American Worker Fund for reskilling native-born workers.

Hindley concludes:

While the Dignity Program isn’t likely to have much impact on the retraining of native-born workers, its offer of political compromise within immigration reform may serve as a model for future bipartisan legislation. By anticipating and attempting to address the perspective that immigration should supplement, not displace, native-born workers, the provision is more likely to garner the level of support needed to finally pass some form of comprehensive immigration reform.

Read the analysis