WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be required to inform families of a detainee’s arrest and holding location, and schools, churches, courthouses, hospitals and playgrounds would be off limits to ICE agents, under a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) that was introduced Tuesday.

The Dignity Act of 2025 would also create a path to  legal status for certain groups of immigrants living in the country without legal immigration status , including young adults known as "Dreamers" who were brought to the United States as minors. The bill also calls for boosting border security through technology and $10 billion in infrastructure upgrades at the southern border and other ports of entry.

"We are a nation of immigrants and we have let the discourse turn immigrants into villains when most of the immigrants in this country are hardworking people," Gillen said at a news conference Tuesday in front of the U.S. Capitol.

Gillen joined other co-sponsors of the measure, including its lead sponsors Reps. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who introduced a similar measure in 2023 that never made it out of committee for consideration of a floor vote.

The latest iteration of the bill comes as President Donald Trump has ramped up his mass deportation campaign with ICE agents raiding work sites, courthouses and parks. Earlier this month, Trump signed a megabill into law that includes $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security, including $75 billion in additional funding for ICE, to make it the largest federal law enforcement agency.

Trump’s campaign pledge to launch a massive deportation effort initially focused on detaining immigrants with criminal convictions or records, but has since expanded to include those without any prior criminal history, including many in the process of securing their legal status. Families and attorneys for detained migrants have complained that detainees are often transported to out-of-state facilities, or in some cases foreign detention centers, without their locations being updated on a federal website.

On Long Island, labor leaders and activists have called for the release of Sara Lopez Garcia, a 20-year-old Suffolk County Community College honors student who was detained with her mother at their Mastic apartment in May when ICE agents were seeking another individual.

Lopez Garcia was detained despite having protected legal status in the United States through a special immigrant juvenile visa granted to young people who have been abused, abandoned or neglected by a parent. She had a Social Security card and work permit and no criminal history.

Lopez Garcia was taken to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where she continues to be held despite signing paperwork agreeing to be deported to her native Colombia.

Her detention came just before Fernando Mejia, 41, the popular manager of a Port Washington bagel shop, was detained in June on his way back from making a food delivery, sparking local outcry. Mejia, a native of El Salvador, was granted a temporary pause to his deportation order earlier this month while a judge decides on his case.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) has raised Lopez Garcia’s case with the White House, and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D- Glen Cove) has called on ICE to release Mejia.

The two cases underscore long-standing calls from lawmakers and immigrant advocates for sweeping immigration reform that offers a path to legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in the country.

"The truth is we still have over 10 million people or more working in construction, hospitality, agriculture, dairies, fisheries, slaughterhouses, who are undocumented but who are not criminals," Salazar said at the news conference.

Gillen, a freshman House member, noted immigration was the top issue in her competitive race last year and said "there is consensus that the system is broken."

"The American people want a fix, they want a change and they want us to work together to do our job," Gillen said.

Suozzi, in a video posted on his congressional social media accounts, also called for a comprehensive solution, saying criminals should be deported, but "people that have been here for 10 years, that go to work, are otherwise following the rules, who want to pay their taxes," should be offered a path to legal status.