A bipartisan bill that aims to ensure undocumented immigrants can legally reside and work in the United States is gaining support from a manufacturing industry plagued by labor shortages. The National Association of Manufacturers on Tuesday endorsed the Dignity Act of 2025, H.R. 4393, which allows undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for more than five years to earn a temporary legal status.

The bill, spearheaded by Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., was reintroduced last summer after Congress allocated $150 billion to secure the Southern border and bolster immigration enforcement as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The spending package included an unprecedented $75 billion in additional funding to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. That is significantly more compared to the agency’s annual budgets of $10 billion or less in previous years. Meanwhile, industry groups have praised the mega-bill for its tax cuts and incentives.

ICE has since faced widespread criticism over its nationwide raids in recent months, perhaps most notably in Minnesota, where federal agents shot and killed at least two U.S. citizens.

As heightened ICE activity continues, Salazar’s bill is also gaining momentum. Co-sponsors Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Tex., Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., joined the Dignity Act as co-sponsors in late January. Today, the bill has support from more than 35 members of Congress and dozens of national organizations, including NAM.

“Manufacturers take great pride in training and developing our U.S. workforce. But the reality is that we have over 400,000 jobs open at any given time, and to help our industry invest and expand our footprint here at home, we need more workers,” Jay Timmons, NAM’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

The U.S. economy has shed 63,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year alone, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Companies have turned to automation and artificial intelligence to address the ongoing shortage, pouring billions of dollars into high-tech facilities. However, as the Trump administration looks to expand U.S. industry amid tariffs and rising costs, emerging technologies can only do so much, experts said.

NAM estimated 3.8 million manufacturing jobs will be needed over the next decade. Roughly half of that total is projected to go unfilled.

“Yes, they broke the law,” Salazar said about undocumented immigrants at a press conference reintroducing the Dignity Act on July 15, 2025. “But someone gave them a job because they needed those workers. Workers who are still needed today.”

In addition to Dignity’s temporary legal status program, the bill provides immigrants who were brought to the states as children with a 10-year temporary legal status and pathway to become a green-card holder. It also supports enhanced security and enforcement at the Southern border and asylum reform that expedites processing and ends catch-and-release policy.

“Our broken immigration system has lost credibility in the eyes of American citizens,” Timmons said. “President Trump has secured the border, but more work needs to be done to restore confidence.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation and other industry groups that represent cleaners, home builders, electrical engineers and other professions, have also endorsed the Dignity Act.

By: DocMemory
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