Editor's Note: This article has been updated. 

Legislation that would provide protections for people lacking legal immigration status has won praise, but not a full endorsement, from Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who has served as chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.

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.

The measure would authorize funding for border security and create overseas centers for asylum seekers during consideration of their case. It would also require asylum cases to be completed within 60 days.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., sponsored the measure, which she named the Dignity Act and first introduced in 2022. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, cosponsored the measure, along with 22 other members of Congress.

Following the reintroduction of the bill earlier this year, Bishop Seitz said he is “deeply grateful to Congresswoman Salazar, Congresswoman Escobar, and their colleagues for this sustained commitment to working across the aisle.”

He added: “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.”

Nonetheless, Bishop Seitz stopped short of endorsing the bill, telling EWTN News correspondent Mark Irons in a Nov. 12 interview that while “we recognize they are looking for a workable solution given the political realities today” he and his fellow bishops have not come to the decision to formally support the legislation because of its lack of a pathway to U.S. citizenship for its intended beneficiaries.

“While we can certainly support many aspects of it,” Bishop Seitz specified, that “are in accord with our understanding of the way immigrants ought to be treated, we have never supported a bill, formally, that doesn’t give a pathway to citizenship.”

Meanwhile, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, comprising over 42,000 affiliated churches, has formally endorsed the measure. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Immigration Forum, Business Roundtable, and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities also are backing the bill.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, on the other hand, has voiced opposition to the measure, saying it would forgive illegal entry and allow authorities to waive offenses such as certain controlled substance crimes and prostitution.

The group criticized the bill’s proposal to create the Dignity Program to provide a renewable seven-year grant of deferred action, saying it is likely that future legislation would attempt to provide a direct path to citizenship if “Dignity status” was granted.