<\/p>\n
Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) is on a mission to address immigration, proposing what she sees as meaningful reform that could solve the current quagmire over the contentious issue.<\/p>\n
Salazar, a Republican whose family is from Cuba, told CBN News she believes many Americans are getting the issue wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot deport every single illegal in the country, because \u2026 we don\u2019t have the manpower to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the same time, those are hands that we need to grow the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Salazar, who has a new book out on the issue, \u201cDignity Not Citizenship,\u201d said the other side of the aisle is also off-base in that they want to \u201cgive [a] path to citizenship to everybody and let them make them be citizens even though they broke the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The congresswoman said she believes there\u2019s a third path that offers a balance \u2014 and \u201cdignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
She proposed \u201cThe Dignity Act\u201d earlier this year, a legislation she believes would help bring illegal individuals who have been in America for more than five years \u201cout of the shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not talking about giving those people who have been here for more than five years and do not have a criminal record any type of citizenship or amnesty,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cI\u2019m offering them the dignity status, which \u2026 allows them to stay in the country, go home for Christmas, buy a home, pay $7,000 fines, pay 1% of their salary for the next seven years, and to be able to consume, and to live a dignified life in the promised land.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said this is a middle-of-the-road way of solving a \u201c40-year problem\u201d that neither side of the political aisle has been able to fix. Salazar said her faith was the impetus of her decision to try and tackle the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a born-again Christian,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a militant Christian. I believe that this is the right thing to do. It says that in the Bible over and over again \u2014 \u2018Treat your neighbor as yourself.’\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cAnd do not necessarily give them citizenship, but treat them well, and if they have set roots in our communities, we should grant them some type of dignified life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salazar said she\u2019s not arguing that illegals should have access to federal programs, vote, or become Americans. Instead, she\u2019s looking for a way to permit them to contribute and help out while also allowing them to come forward in a viable and legal way.<\/p>\n
The congresswoman said it\u2019s important to go after illegal immigrants who are criminals, but she said the current dynamic sometimes goes too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t agree that you have to kick out of the country someone who\u2019s been here for 20 years, has three American children, that do not have a criminal record, has been picking up the jalapeno peppers in Southern California, or cleaning the toilets in Manhattan, or in the slaughterhouses, or in the dairies, milking the cows and contributing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s true, they\u2019re illegals. But the guy who gave him the job also broke the law. So then you start into this spiral that I would like to stop. So bring everyone out of the shadows, make them accountable, and give them dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salazar also stressed the importance of the GOP garnering support from Hispanics, noting a failure to do so will cost Republicans elections.<\/p>\n
Salazar also spent time decrying socialism and communism, explaining her own background to help frame why these systems disturb her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocialism is Marxism and Marxism is communism,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know because my parents are Cubans. I\u2019m first-generation American, and I know exactly what that ideology does to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salazar continued, \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful in theory; it\u2019s miserable in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on to call communism an \u201cideology that is evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nefarious, it\u2019s cruel, it\u2019s anti-Christian, and anti-American,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cSo we in the GOP have to wake up and bring new votes to our base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Salazar said \u201cwe are the best country on earth\u201d and encouraged Christians to take action to help bridge divides on immigration \u2014 one step that could help stop the spread of socialism.<\/p>\n
\u201cHispanics are the fastest growing population in the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to bring them to the GOP, and I\u2019m doing all I can, and the Lord Almighty will be the one finishing this job, and I assure you that He will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salazar also believes President Donald Trump will support her legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always told him, \u2018Mr. President, the same God \u2026 the Most High who saved you from death in Pennsylvania is the one who will enlighten you, sir, to give dignity to those people,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for\u00a0Faithwire\u2019s daily newsletter\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app\u00a0to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) is on a mission to address immigration, proposing what she sees as meaningful reform that could solve the current quagmire over the contentious issue. Salazar, a Republican whose family is from Cuba, told CBN News she believes many Americans are getting the issue wrong. \u201cYou cannot deport every single illegal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3305,574,3304,1318,1977,3187,3303,2276,328],"class_list":{"0":"post-12246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jesus","8":"tag-antiamerican","9":"tag-antichristian","10":"tag-drops","11":"tag-gop","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-rep","14":"tag-rips","15":"tag-socialism","16":"tag-warning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}