Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gómez praised immigration legislation that would provide protections for people lacking legal immigration status.

The bill (HR 4393), which would not lay out a direct path to citizenship, would give people who lack legal status the chance to earn it through labor and financial penalties if they lack a criminal record. It would apply to people who entered the United States before 2021.

In an op-ed for the diocesan-run Angelus News, Gómez said much could be improved about the bill, which its sponsor calls the Dignity Act, but called it “a genuine, good-faith starting point,” adding: “We need to start somewhere. And we need to start now.”

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, introduced the measure last summer with cosponsorship from Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. No hearings have been set on the proposal.

The bill would increase physical barriers and the deployment of technology to secure the border, increase penalties for illegal border crossings and asylum fraud, and mandate e-verify for all employers. It would reform the visa and asylum process.

The bill would create the “Dignity Program,” which would offer seven-year temporary legal status to people who entered the country illegally but have been present for five years or more. A person who would enter the program would need to pay $7,000 in restitution and would not receive any government benefits or entitlements.

Although the legislation would not create a pathway to citizenship, the person’s participation in the program could be renewed every seven years if the restitution is paid and they maintain good conduct. Dreamers and DACA recipients would have a pathway to permanent legal residency, not citizenship.

“It’s not perfect, it has flaws, but it is realistic about the political landscape and it should be the beginning of a conversation,” Gómez said.

Gómez blamed the immigration crisis on lawmakers failing to reach an agreement on immigration reform for decades. He recognized the federal government’s “duty to enforce immigration laws” but criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, saying “there must be a better way than this.”

“One place to start is for our leaders in Washington to limit deportations to violent criminals or those guilty of other serious offenses,” the archbishop said. “It serves no national interest to deport undocumented men and women who are contributing to the good of our society; it only leaves children without their parents.”

Gómez said Americans should remember that “we are a nation under God, and we are in this together.”

“God created us in his image and we need to treat other people like we believe that,” he said. “Even if we are on opposite sides, we need to talk and listen to one another with respect and with hearts open to trying to understand the other side and to work together to seek the common good.”

The bill has also received positive feedback from at least two other bishops.

El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark J. Seitz, former chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said in July 2025 that “under our current system, families across our nation are living in fear” and praised the reforms sought in the measure.

“Bipartisan proposals such as the Dignity Act are a step toward fulfilling the call made by our Holy Father to offer a better way forward — one that begins and ends with respect for the God-given dignity of every person,” Seitz said at the time.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila also promoted the legislation in November 2025, saying in an op-ed for the Denver Catholic that the legislation will “take care of immigrants who have come to this country.”

“They may not have come with documents, but they have been living here peacefully for 10, 20, 30 years. Many of us know them, and they need a path to citizenship,” he said.

Catholic bishops in the United States have been vocal on immigration policy, especially since Trump began his second term just over a year ago. In November 2025, the bishops’ conference issued a message opposing “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”