Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Colorado's eighth congressional district is forty percent Hispanic, and we
have lots of good, hardworking individuals in this district.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Bipartisan group of lawmakers introducing new immigration reform legislation known
as the Dignity Act.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
And among those Congressmen Gabe Evans, who says the Dignity
Act prioritizes border security while delivering a practical solution for
immigrants who want to work hard, follow our laws, and
be productive members of society. Joining us now in the
KOA Commons Spirit Health Outline representing Colorado's eighth is Congressman
Gabe Evans. Congressman, welcome back to Colorado's Morning News. Just
kind of give us some of the highlights of this legislation.
(00:35):
I know you're working alongside Florida Congressman Maria Salazar on this.
What do you like, What do you think is really
workable with this legislation?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, first and foremost, thanks so much for having me
back on the show. And let's just do a quick
recap of what even got us to the point where
we can have this conversation. The United States hasn't had
any meaningful immigration reform for basically forty years. At this point,
and every time this conversation comes up, we talk about
we have to have border security. Without border security, everything
(01:06):
else is meaningless. And so with the passage of the
big beautiful Bill, with a lot of the things that
are in this Dignity Act that we'll talk about, we
are delivering those promises to make sure that we have
border security and border security that's passed into law by
Congress and signed by the President, not just merely at
the executive order level. And we've seen the results of that.
(01:27):
Border crossings. Illegal border crossings are at an all time
historic low right now, and we have the resources to
make sure that we have the security that we need
to protect our country. But with that comes the next
part of this conversation, which is how do we reform
a broken immigration system that again hasn't seen any major
update in the last forty years. And so that's where
(01:48):
this Dignity Act comes in. And let's be one hundred
percent clear, this is not amnesty. This is a very,
very tough package that continues to double down on border secureity,
but it gives a pathway forward for folks that want
to work hard, that are committed to accountability. You have
(02:09):
to pay seven thousand dollars to enter the program. You
can't have a criminal background, you can't be a freeloader,
you can't be taking government welfare to enter into this program.
You if you have back taxes, you've been in the
United States, in the United States being paid under the table,
you have to pay ten years of back taxes to
(02:29):
come into this program. And so the result of all
of those things is again a very tough program that
focuses on accountability for folks that want to come to
the United States, work hard, and be a contributing member
of the American dream.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Looking at this pathway, like you mentioned, Congressman, is a
good standing in com in the community. And that's seven
thousand dollars restitution that you mentioned there. So how was
seven grand ultimately decided as the price tag and where
would that money go?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, so this is one of those things where again,
as you mentioned, this is a bipartisan package. You've got
double digit numbers of Republicans and Democrats who are supporting this.
It's at the merely the introduction point of it. And
so we have those conversations, you know, do you do
one thousand dollars a year for seven years. Do you
do one hundred dollars a month for a series of months?
(03:22):
Do you do? You know, where do you set the dials?
And so ultimately that was just through the stakeholdering process,
something that seemed like it was palatable for everybody and
really kind of hit the sweet spot of again accountability,
a long enough program to actually make sure that it's
going to work. And then to your second part of
the question, what do we do with the money? Well,
really two things with it. First, not a penny of
(03:45):
American taxpayer money goes into this program. It's one hundred
percent funded by that that seven thousand dollars restitution fee.
But the second thing where that money goes is it
actually goes to American citizens workforce development. Because you always hear,
you know, are these folks taking our jobs? For the
answer is now part of that money goes into making
(04:08):
sure that American citizens have workforce education. For every immigrant
that enters into the Dignity program, a part of that
seven thousand dollars goes to training one. It's a one
to one ratio goes to training one American citizen worker
through workforce development.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We often hear from from people when it comes to
the immigrants and the migrants that there's a lot of
ambiguity and there's unclear about status. I'm a little curious
why in the bill it's a pathway to a permanent
non immigrant status, not a pathway to citizenship. Does because
that still seems like that leaves people in limbo. Am
I misunderstanding that?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
No. So previous versions of the Dignity Act, if you
just go on on and google Dignity Act, previous versions
of it included a pathway to citizenship. We're not including
that in this bill. And so, like I said at
the very beginning, this is not amnesty because I think
most folks associate a pathway to citizenship with amnesty. So again,
be very clear, this is not amnesty. There's not a
(05:13):
pathway to citizens.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And I say, there's those people that that misunderstand that
that's on there, and that's not on your end of
understanding it, so right, because I mean they think that,
but that's not the case. Ambnessy is different than a
pathway to citizenship.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Uh yeah, I mean I don't know that there's necessarily
a legal definition of what is amnesty. I think most
folks associated with a pathway to citizenship and then no restitution,
no accountability. And like I said, in this bill, we've
got both. It's it's not a pathway to citizenship. And
you have that seven year accountability program to include the
seven thousand dollars fee, paying your back taxes and a
(05:48):
variety of other accountability measures in there. But again, what
it does do is you enter into the Dignity Program.
You get an annual work visa, so you now have
some sort of legal status to be able to lawfully
work in the United States contribute. You can't be on welfare.
You have to renew that every year for seven years
(06:09):
at that you know, one thousand dollars a year price tag,
while paying back any back taxes that you and then
like you said, a good standing in the community, can't
be a criminal, can't be associated with bad guys. And
I think the last piece that we haven't necessarily talked
is this is only for folks that were in the
United States prior to December of twenty twenty. So anybody
(06:32):
that exploited the open border crisis of the previous four
years under the last administration not eligible. Anybody that illegally
comes to the United States now not eligible. This is
only four. Again, it's a very very tough, very very
narrowly tailored path for those individuals who want to work hard,
who have been in the United States not causing problems,
(06:55):
and who are willing to take accountability to be able
to earn that path to a work visa. And then,
like I said to, it ultimately ends with a green card,
not citizenship, but a green card.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
With a minute we have left. Congressmen, you say that
this is bipartisan. There have been dignick d acts of
different forms proposed before. But do you believe there's a
line of or anything in here that could be a hurdle,
could see some pushback when eventually in the hopes of
getting it passed.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I think the biggest one is that we haven't had
a comprehensive immigration reform for forty years basically in the
United States. Because it's a really, really complex issue and
there's a lot of thoughts and feelings on both sides
of the issue, and so that's why we wanted to
make sure that this was broadly bipartisan. Again, we got
a minimum of ten Republicans and ten Democrats supporting this
(07:44):
piece of legislation because we have to have the conversation somewhere,
and if we don't start the conversation, then we're never
going to see any sort of progress in this area.
So with the border under control and with a pathway
forward to continue to keep the border under control, we
also need to have the conversation about how do we
update our immigration system that hasn't been updated in forty years.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Quick follow up to that, how your business is in
your district and your constituents. I think we got into
it by saying forty percent in Well County you have
some sort of status or migrant. What's their reaction to
this and what do they tell you about this issue?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Oh, this is broader than just the Hispanic community. Of course,
the Hispanic community wants this, but this is something that
my business is, my farmers, the economy of my district
has been begging for. I've done over one hundred in
person roundtables and site visits and conversations with folks in
the district. So it doesn't matter whether you're a farmer,
you're a hospitality worker, you're in construction, you're in housing,
(08:40):
really every sector of the economy that I have talked
to my business owners. In addition to the Hispanic community
is asking for some sort of clarity in the immigration
space so that they can hire people that have legal
status to work in the United States and actually know
what the program is to be able to identify those folks.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Congressman Gabe Evans, thank you so much for your time
this morning.
Colorado's eighth congressional district is forty percent Hispanic, and we
have lots of good, hardworking individuals in this district.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Bipartisan group of lawmakers introducing new immigration reform legislation known
as the Dignity Act.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
And among those Congressmen Gabe Evans, who says the Dignity
Act prioritizes border security while delivering a practical solution for
immigrants who want to work hard, follow our laws, and
be productive members of society. Joining us now in the
KOA Commons Spirit Health Outline representing Colorado's eighth is Congressman
Gabe Evans. Congressman, welcome back to Colorado's Morning News. Just
kind of give us some of the highlights of this legislation.
(00:35):
I know you're working alongside Florida Congressman Maria Salazar on this.
What do you like, What do you think is really
workable with this legislation?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, first and foremost, thanks so much for having me
back on the show. And let's just do a quick
recap of what even got us to the point where
we can have this conversation. The United States hasn't had
any meaningful immigration reform for basically forty years. At this point,
and every time this conversation comes up, we talk about
we have to have border security. Without border security, everything
(01:06):
else is meaningless. And so with the passage of the
big beautiful Bill, with a lot of the things that
are in this Dignity Act that we'll talk about, we
are delivering those promises to make sure that we have
border security and border security that's passed into law by
Congress and signed by the President, not just merely at
the executive order level. And we've seen the results of that.
(01:27):
Border crossings. Illegal border crossings are at an all time
historic low right now, and we have the resources to
make sure that we have the security that we need
to protect our country. But with that comes the next
part of this conversation, which is how do we reform
a broken immigration system that again hasn't seen any major
update in the last forty years. And so that's where
(01:48):
this Dignity Act comes in. And let's be one hundred
percent clear, this is not amnesty. This is a very,
very tough package that continues to double down on border secureity,
but it gives a pathway forward for folks that want
to work hard, that are committed to accountability. You have
(02:09):
to pay seven thousand dollars to enter the program. You
can't have a criminal background, you can't be a freeloader,
you can't be taking government welfare to enter into this program.
You if you have back taxes, you've been in the
United States, in the United States being paid under the table,
you have to pay ten years of back taxes to
(02:29):
come into this program. And so the result of all
of those things is again a very tough program that
focuses on accountability for folks that want to come to
the United States, work hard, and be a contributing member
of the American dream.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Looking at this pathway, like you mentioned, Congressman, is a
good standing in com in the community. And that's seven
thousand dollars restitution that you mentioned there. So how was
seven grand ultimately decided as the price tag and where
would that money go?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, so this is one of those things where again,
as you mentioned, this is a bipartisan package. You've got
double digit numbers of Republicans and Democrats who are supporting this.
It's at the merely the introduction point of it. And
so we have those conversations, you know, do you do
one thousand dollars a year for seven years. Do you
do one hundred dollars a month for a series of months?
(03:22):
Do you do? You know, where do you set the dials?
And so ultimately that was just through the stakeholdering process,
something that seemed like it was palatable for everybody and
really kind of hit the sweet spot of again accountability,
a long enough program to actually make sure that it's
going to work. And then to your second part of
the question, what do we do with the money? Well,
really two things with it. First, not a penny of
(03:45):
American taxpayer money goes into this program. It's one hundred
percent funded by that that seven thousand dollars restitution fee.
But the second thing where that money goes is it
actually goes to American citizens workforce development. Because you always hear,
you know, are these folks taking our jobs? For the
answer is now part of that money goes into making
(04:08):
sure that American citizens have workforce education. For every immigrant
that enters into the Dignity program, a part of that
seven thousand dollars goes to training one. It's a one
to one ratio goes to training one American citizen worker
through workforce development.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
We often hear from from people when it comes to
the immigrants and the migrants that there's a lot of
ambiguity and there's unclear about status. I'm a little curious
why in the bill it's a pathway to a permanent
non immigrant status, not a pathway to citizenship. Does because
that still seems like that leaves people in limbo. Am
I misunderstanding that?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
No. So previous versions of the Dignity Act, if you
just go on on and google Dignity Act, previous versions
of it included a pathway to citizenship. We're not including
that in this bill. And so, like I said at
the very beginning, this is not amnesty because I think
most folks associate a pathway to citizenship with amnesty. So again,
be very clear, this is not amnesty. There's not a
(05:13):
pathway to citizens.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And I say, there's those people that that misunderstand that
that's on there, and that's not on your end of
understanding it, so right, because I mean they think that,
but that's not the case. Ambnessy is different than a
pathway to citizenship.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Uh yeah, I mean I don't know that there's necessarily
a legal definition of what is amnesty. I think most
folks associated with a pathway to citizenship and then no restitution,
no accountability. And like I said, in this bill, we've
got both. It's it's not a pathway to citizenship. And
you have that seven year accountability program to include the
seven thousand dollars fee, paying your back taxes and a
(05:48):
variety of other accountability measures in there. But again, what
it does do is you enter into the Dignity Program.
You get an annual work visa, so you now have
some sort of legal status to be able to lawfully
work in the United States contribute. You can't be on welfare.
You have to renew that every year for seven years
(06:09):
at that you know, one thousand dollars a year price tag,
while paying back any back taxes that you and then
like you said, a good standing in the community, can't
be a criminal, can't be associated with bad guys. And
I think the last piece that we haven't necessarily talked
is this is only for folks that were in the
United States prior to December of twenty twenty. So anybody
(06:32):
that exploited the open border crisis of the previous four
years under the last administration not eligible. Anybody that illegally
comes to the United States now not eligible. This is
only four. Again, it's a very very tough, very very
narrowly tailored path for those individuals who want to work hard,
who have been in the United States not causing problems,
(06:55):
and who are willing to take accountability to be able
to earn that path to a work visa. And then,
like I said to, it ultimately ends with a green card,
not citizenship, but a green card.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
With a minute we have left. Congressmen, you say that
this is bipartisan. There have been dignick d acts of
different forms proposed before. But do you believe there's a
line of or anything in here that could be a hurdle,
could see some pushback when eventually in the hopes of
getting it passed.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I think the biggest one is that we haven't had
a comprehensive immigration reform for forty years basically in the
United States. Because it's a really, really complex issue and
there's a lot of thoughts and feelings on both sides
of the issue, and so that's why we wanted to
make sure that this was broadly bipartisan. Again, we got
a minimum of ten Republicans and ten Democrats supporting this
(07:44):
piece of legislation because we have to have the conversation somewhere,
and if we don't start the conversation, then we're never
going to see any sort of progress in this area.
So with the border under control and with a pathway
forward to continue to keep the border under control, we
also need to have the conversation about how do we
update our immigration system that hasn't been updated in forty years.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Quick follow up to that, how your business is in
your district and your constituents. I think we got into
it by saying forty percent in Well County you have
some sort of status or migrant. What's their reaction to
this and what do they tell you about this issue?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Oh, this is broader than just the Hispanic community. Of course,
the Hispanic community wants this, but this is something that
my business is, my farmers, the economy of my district
has been begging for. I've done over one hundred in
person roundtables and site visits and conversations with folks in
the district. So it doesn't matter whether you're a farmer,
you're a hospitality worker, you're in construction, you're in housing,
(08:40):
really every sector of the economy that I have talked
to my business owners. In addition to the Hispanic community
is asking for some sort of clarity in the immigration
space so that they can hire people that have legal
status to work in the United States and actually know
what the program is to be able to identify those folks.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Congressman Gabe Evans, thank you so much for your time
this morning.
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