House Republicans Betray Conservatives With Amnesty Bill
By: Hayden Daniel
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
It clearly illustrates congressional Republicans' apparent compulsion to betray their base.
Conservatives supported the Big Beautiful Bill on the promise that it would kick deportations and border enforcement into overdrive, and less than two weeks later Republicans have stabbed them in the back with an amnesty bill.
On Tuesday, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., reintroduced the DIGNITY Act alongside a cadre of fellow Republicans as well as Democrats. Her office couched the legislation in words like "dignity" and "opportunity," saying it will allow "certain long-term undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, without amnesty or a path to citizenship."
Salazar gave a speech on Thursday directed at President Donald Trump that overflowed with the same lies and emotional manipulation we've heard for decades about illegal aliens. That we need illegal aliens to do work Americans just simply don't have the will to do themselves, that aliens who crossed the southern border illegally are not criminals, that mass amnesty would catapult Trump to the status of a modern-day Lincoln or Reagan.
GOP Rep. Maria Salazar pushing her amnesty plan: "Our economy needs a reliable working force in areas where other Americans don't participate! Some of the most shameful moments in our past as a country relates to how we have treated immigrants who are not criminals!" pic.twitter.com/9p55BsFULl
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 17, 2025
She even tried to morally blackmail Trump by reminding him that "the eye of history is upon us" and warning him that "if we get this wrong, future generations will pay the price in shame."
Despite using just about every Democrat talking point in the book, no one is buying the spin. It's amnesty by another name.
But a throwaway attempt by Salazar to flatter Trump underlines just how much of an outrage this is from the congressional GOP. Listing off Trump's accomplishments over the last six months, she mentioned, "You signed the BBB [Big Beautiful Bill] the day that you said you were going to sign it."
It's strange that Salazar praises the Big Beautiful Bill as a great achievement when one of its major provisions stands completely at odds with her attempt to advocate for mass amnesty.
Trump and his administration consistently emphasized that the bill would enable mass deportations.
"The House needs to get this bill passed," border czar Homan said before the bill's passage. "The more money we have, the more bad guys we take off the street." The White House boosted a statement from NumbersUSA that said, "The Trump Administration needs this funding to deport illegal aliens, millions of whom entered the country over the last four years."
In an article titled, "20 Reasons Why Congress Must Unite Behind the One, Big, Beautiful Bill" the White House declared, "The bill permanently secures our borders by making the largest border security investment in history, funding at least one million annual removals of illegal immigrants and ramping up 'mass deportation operations to a level never before seen in American history.'"
The White House summed it up: "Put simply, The Big Beautiful Bill will empower Big Beautiful Deportations."
These promises rallied conservative support around the bill, even as many of its spending provisions proved to not be as conservative as fiscal hawks wanted.
The Big Beautiful Bill was supposed to be THE immigration bill, the one that would deliver on Trump's campaign promises and allow him to decisively turn the tide on the issue. But congressional Republicans want to turn it into a bait-and-switch that gives them all of their spending schemes while they switch out the immigration provisions for mass amnesty.
Salazar voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, along with nearly every other House Republican behind the DIGNITY Act. So, she voted for the mass deportations that should result from the BBB, yet without any sense of shame she now pushes for amnesty. The fact that this new crusade comes so soon after what could be a historic turning point in our nation's illegal immigration crisis makes it all the more outrageous. It clearly illustrates congressional Republicans' apparent compulsion to betray their base just so they can claim to stand on the "right side of history."
If he had any spine left, House Speaker Mike Johnson would have nipped this in the bud long before a media circus started. Now, Trump needs to squash it and hold true to the promises he made on the campaign trail and in the Big Beautiful Bill.
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It could depend on what people mean by “amnesty.”
Good! We need immigrantion reform now...
The illegals need to be removed first. Lets clean up one mess before taking on another.
We are never going to remove all of them. Math defeats idealism every time.
This is one of those things like prohibition or outlawing marijuana. It makes very little sense to spend billions of dollars on enforcement in order to eliminate billions of dollars of tax revenue. We're just stubbornly committed to stupid.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
That has always been a euphemism for “never.” Political people get too much traction out of keeping this issue alive by demanding the undoable.
Doesn't mean we sit back and allow them to remain in the country.
We see how the successful the Democrats were. Hell, Biden's fix was to throw open the borders. We see the problems that caused.
It does mean you don't make that a prerequisite for immigration reform.
So where was this reform for the last 4 years?
As I've said in other posts, there are no votes in solved problems.
This will be an issue as long as politicians can use the fight to generate votes.
Once a "solution" is in place, the people who voted for you stop thinking the problem is urgent and the people who voted against you are supercharged (remember the ACA?) Solving any problem is a great way for an elected official to lose their job.
Eventually, the math on this is going to bite us in the ass. America as a nation will stagnate and then start to decline because we lack the critical mass of motivated people necessary to maintain our society.
I will file your unresponsive deflection in the appropriate receptacle. Prioritizing party tribalism, such as you have displayed just now, is a big reason why we have this problem.
File it where ever you want. Nothing I said was wrong.
A "solution",,,, the likes of which nobody's ever seen before!
I'm not familiar with the details of the act. However this is (finally) an intelligent thought process on immigration.
No amnesty
What do you mean by “amnesty?”
they don't get to stay or return
They come into the country illegally, they get none of that. They get picked up and sent packing.
That would actually be harsher than existing law. Imposing a harsher penalty in ex post facto fashion would be unconstitutional.
But why even go to such lengths? If I break a traffic law, I’m not forbidden to drive for the rest of my life. Most penalties we have are not “forever.”
So don’t forgive it. I wouldn’t even suggest that. There should be some penalty. But why does it need to be deportation - perhaps for life - in all cases? We don’t punish anything else that way, except murder.
Many - I would guess most of them - are guilty of little more than what amounts to trespassing. Usually, the penalty for that is some nominal fine.
You have a license to drive in the USA. Illegals don't have permission to be in the USA.
Why does it need to be deportation?
Because that gets them out of here
They become some other country's problem again
Sure, but there are still restrictions on what I can and cannot do. When I break a traffic law, they don’t take away my license forever.
Roughly half the people in the country illegally, entered legally, so they had permission and then they broke a rule somewhere. Most just stayed too long. Rather than deport them, we could just fine them. It’s not necessary to completely disrupt the lives of otherwise good people.
What makes you think they’re a problem?
The USA has too many people. Long time ago there was room for more, but not now
A lot of them act like we should change to suit them and provide for them, forgetting that they are the ones who came
Because they are problems of all kinds and we had too many problems already
There are lots of people who don't have licenses to drive.
There are lots of people who drive without a license.
There are lots of people who overstay their visas.
There are lots of people who are seeking asylum and awaiting a court date for a hearing.
There are LOTS of people who love Trump but don't give a fuck about 'asylum seekers' because they just hate the thought of another non-white non-English speaking person coming into this country for any reason because they're a xenophobic bigot.
And there are lots of Americans who want reasonable immigration reform just like they want reasonable gun laws, but they'll never get what they want because that would be reasonable and rational and if there is one thing the rabid right can't allow in America is reason and rationale.
Based on what? What is the ideal number?
You recommend we follow the rest of the worlds precedent and jail them for decades, fine them excessively and THEN kick them out? What a lot of people don't realize is the US has the most lenient immigration laws and penalties. Deportation removed the criminal element from the country.
Many of those being deported have had more than ample time to get their situation fixed. The situation they find themselves in with ICE is self-inflicted.
No amnesty for those who came illegally. Rewarding illegality simply encourages more illegality and hurts those who played by the rules.
What do you mean by “amnesty?”
Have you thought about how that might apply to violent January 6 rioters?
In any event, sometimes forgiveness is the proper course. And that can take different forms.
Exactly what is not conservative?
Key provisions of the Dignity Act include:
Amnesty.
The larger problem is that no one can trust the democrats to enforce any provisions fairly or with common sense. They reneged on the 86 security promises and the party is infinitely more radical now. This is now a party who tries to turn human trafficking gang members into sob stories who shouldn’t be deported, there’s simply no way they’ll support the mass deportations that will be necessary as breaking the law is again rewarded and causes another migrant invasion.
You make me long for Reagan even after Nancy became his puppetmaster.
Not at all. They’re just asking the government to prove it.
They don't have to prove anything to deport someone with a deportation order. That anyone thinks the government has to satisfy an additional criminal burden simply to execute a deportation order is proof of what I'm saying.
You’re moving the goalposts. Before, it was human trafficking gang members. Now, it’s someone with a deportation order. Pick one and do it legally.
In the case of Abrego-Garcia, he had, to my understanding, a court order that he not be deported to El Salvador. So, if you want to deport him to El Salvador, you need to go to court.
Why is that so hard?
You claim to care all about the law when it comes to the power to deport people, but you want to ignore the law when it limits that power.
Not at all. Anyone with a deportation order should be removed and it's not necessary to prove "human trafficking or any other crime " to deport them. Democrats are turning criminals into sob stories.
the case of Abrego-Garcia,
The maryland man? The upstanding member of his community? Exactly the sort of propaganda campaign I was talking about.
ut you want to ignore the law when it limits that power.
Not at all. He should have been deported to South sudan or Eswatini. Now he can serve his sentence here and then go south sudan.
Its my understanding , he is fighting like hell to STAY in jail since the deportation order is still valid even IF he faces charges on other things , and the courts have said third party deportation destinations are legal .
I don’t blame him.
I am surprised nobody has come along to claim the with create 2 classes of citizens, No path to citizenship for law breakers.
They are trying to diminish citizenship. The long practice of citizenship in America is one of the nation's greatest achievements.
We can give amnesty in the form of green cards and work permits, but anyone entering the country illegally should never be granted citizenship.
Reenact the 3/5s law for everyone this time! /s
Meh. I think there should be a statute of limitations on it, just like almost everything else.
If they've been on a green card for X number of years, that should suffice. It can be a long number. That's fine. But if somebody came across illegally during the Great Biden Wave of 2024, and later we look up and find he has been on a green card paying taxes for 20 years, we're idiots if we deny that guy citizenship. He's a far better American than the 25 year old gender studies barista demanding we all pay off they/their student loans.
They could be allowed to stay without making them citizens.
Why?
Because many - I would guess most - are valued members of the communities in which they live and work. Economically, just deporting all those people is like cutting off your own toes. You’re crippling yourself.
But it’s more than that. It’s a humanitarian crisis that we allowed to develop. We have been letting these people come here, and live and work here, and raise families here for generations. We have a responsibility to them as human beings. Cruelty should not be the first option.
They could be allowed to stay without making them citizens, and if they do turn to crime, they risk deportation just like any other non-citizen resident.
Because the math on immigration, population, economic trends says it's an excellent idea.
For us. Never mind them. It's a better plan for us.
Too many people here now. Some say people are causing climate change so more people make that worse, so if those people are right then immigration needs to stop or climate change will get worse.
In what sense? I know you think this, but I've never seen any numbers to support it.
That is not how that works.
"Too many people here now"
Land size of the USA has not increased but there are lots more people than there used to be. Foreigners coming here add to that and we have too many without them. Roads, schools, hospitals overcrowded and open space and farmland becoming housing developments.
We already have more people than we can take care of.
The ones complaining about climate change and pollution should realize more people cause the problems to be worse
Walk me through how people moving from one location to another increases climate change.
MAGA: Nothing short of deportation is acceptable for people who are present illegally - even if the worst thing about them is their illegal presence and they work on farms. Any form of amnesty is unacceptable.
Also MAGA: Trump pardoned 1500 people who engaged in a violent assault on the Capitol, in an attempt to overturn an election, and some of them brutally battered police officers. They don't need to be held accountable. A blanket pardon is just fine.
The blindness is sad, isn't it?
I am all in favor of a Reagan level re-write of our immigration policies from start to finish. We are trying to operate in 2025 like it's still 1925.
That said, the Jan 6 comparison is a piece of idiotic hypocrisy that people simply need to let go. You either care about riots or you don't. Rioters need to be punished or they don't.
Personally... I'm all in favor of locking them up for extended periods of time. But only if we're locking them up without regard for their politics.
In fact, thousands of people were prosecuted for violent riots in 2020. I support that, and I don’t support pardoning any of them. I myself have protested - peacefully. Burning down the neighborhood is bullshit.
But conservatives go frothing at the mouth about immigration and illegal aliens on the grounds that it’s always important to obey the law, and even your average undocumented strawberry picker should be treated as a “criminal” who should be ejected from the country ASAP. And if, on the way, he gets beaten by ICE agents, attacked by alligators, or locked away forever in some gulag, then good enough for him. He brought that shit on himself.
I will not be lectured to on the law and criminal punishments by people (and I’m not saying this is you) who support the blanket pardoning of people who beat cops on the step of the Capitol.
And while I’m thinking about it, I also will not be lectured to about the virtues of breaking up families by people who claim to be Christian and support family values.
A thousand times yes, but conservatives will only ever hear what they want to hear. I wouldn't trust one to deliver my paper let alone listen to one of them whine about the hilarious bullshit they've been suckered into believing.
Yesh, God forbid any of them ever acknowledge that we agree on a single thing. Some people don’t want to agree, no matter what it is, because their politics won’t allow it.
Jack , i will respectfully disagree about re writing policy, we are seeing how changing policy with admins works right now , whats needed is rewriting the actual immigration LAWS , something different administrations policy can not ignore without consequence or penalty and in order to change it has to be done so using the legislature .
Not that thats going to matter really because we have seen that the actual law can be ignored as a matter of policy by whomever decides to when in power ..
OK, so that's what I actually meant. I should have been more precise. Well spotted.
I don't know how we solve that. I hope we're seeing one of those cultural pendulum reversals where we decide at the grassroots level that we've had enough nonsense, so maybe it takes care of itself. Other than that, it's troubling.
I don't know how, but what our left leaning friends never seem to see is that when they excuse bad behavior they enable it for conservatives when they regain office.
Observation and a though i have had .
the observation is that as long as pressure by ICE is maintained , others that may get corralled think more about self deportation as a means to avoid ICE , add the incentive to do so by making it policy that those NOT caught by ICE and self deport , can reapply for a visa or whatever with no time limit they have to stay out of the country as long as the visa is applied for in their HOME COUNTRY, those caught , and from my understanding are usually given 2-5-10-20 years before they can even reapply for a visa . again it can be policy but that would be subject to change as soon as a new admin takes power .
MY Thought , A lot of the sanctuary states are likely looking 5 years into the future , and if they keep losing these people , and they continue to lose actual state residents that are US citizens at the rate they are , come census time , they will likely be losing seats in the House of Representatives
Remember , the census doesnt just count US Citizens , but everyone , and everyone counts when apportioning seats in the HoR.
Simply put , they lose the population , they lose the seats .
Why should the USA be expected to let people from other countries move here?
If you go by the Biden Crackhead, who else is going to clean hotels?
Progressives want
1. cheap labor they can exploit.
2. Give the exploited labor legal rights to stay.
somehow they don’t get the two are incompatible
In the 1800's they had their slaves
2. Give the exploited labor legal rights to stay.
The deal is they wanted they voting as a thank you.
as the congresswoman from Brooklyn made clear "I need more migrants in my district, for redistricting purposes" it’s just about maintaining power. Illegals give democrats extra seats in congress.
Here is hoping the Bill is passed that makes so illegals are not counted for representation.
Amen.
Progressives had slaves in the 1800's ? LOL. Owning slaves is by definition not progressive. Conservatives owned slaves. And traitors.