Republican election losses and a wave of retirements have knocked out 10 of the 15 GOP lawmakers who co-sponsored Rep. Maria Salazar’s “Dignidad” bill, which would grant legal status to some undocumented immigrants while expanding access to foreign labor for several industries.
Salazar, a Florida Republican, is herself clinging to her seat. She defeated her Democratic opponent by a margin of just 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent, a result now headed to a recount. Fellow Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, another co-sponsor of the bill, is also facing a recount in his race.
Other co-sponsors lost their seats outright. Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Rep. Young Kim of California were all defeated. Two more co-sponsors, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, had already announced their retirements after years of pushing similar legislation.
The pattern stands in contrast to the result in Texas, where Rep. Brandon Gill, a vocal opponent of loosening immigration enforcement, won his district even though voters there also backed Democratic gubernatorial candidate James Talarico.
What the bill does
Salazar has defended the Dignidad bill as a measure that benefits a wide range of industries, not just large corporations. In April, she said:
When people tell me that I am trying to help big business to have cheap labor, I’m going to answer them: It’s not [just] big business, it’s not only agricultural or construction or hospitality or health care or manufacturing — it’s more…. Who else? The farmers, people in the dairy business. We all like milk, right? Well, there are 150,000 jobs available in agriculture right now … Manufacturers! I don’t know anyone in the manufacturing world, but I do know that the National Association of Manufacturers decided to do a public press conference to support [the] Dignidad [bill] … It’s agricultural, construction, hospitality [sectors].
During her campaign, Salazar also publicly broke with President Donald Trump, saying some of his administration’s immigration enforcement efforts had gone too far.
Election context
Despite the losses among Dignidad co-sponsors, exit polling from Tuesday showed Republicans outpolling Democrats on the immigration issue generally, 44 percent to 40 percent.
Vice President JD Vance has said he expects business groups to use the election results to argue that immigration enforcement policies cost Republicans support among working-class voters and should be scaled back, even though enforcement measures remain popular with the broader electorate.
