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GOP infighting erupts over immigration bill that would shield millions from deportation
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House Republicans are sharply divided over a bipartisan immigration reform bill, with one GOP lawmaker calling on President Donald Trump to intervene.
For months, GOP lawmakers have fiercely debated the Dignity Act, whose Republican sponsor, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., is pushing for the immigration proposal to be marked up in committee and receive a vote on the floor.
The Miami Republican has quickly run into opposition from a swath of conservatives in the GOP conference, who have ripped the proposal as «mass amnesty» and a wholesale rejection of the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.
«The DIGNIDAD Act … is a betrayal of the values that we ran on last election cycle,» Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview, referring to the bill’s original Spanish name. «We ran on mass deportations. We said we’re going to do that, so we should.»
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, has slammed the Dignity Act as «mass amnesty» and a betrayal of Republicans’ 2024 campaign promises. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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But Salazar, whose heavily Latino district Trump narrowly won in 2024, is offering a starkly different approach.
«Now that the border is secured … what are we going to do with those people who do not have a criminal record and have contributed to the economy,» Salazar said at a press conference on Wednesday. «The economy still needs them.»
The immigration standoff highlights the fissures in the coalition that elected a Republican trifecta in 2024. The Miami Republican is one of Democrats’ top targets in November’s midterm elections.
Salazar, who first introduced the legislation several years ago, said she has been in conversation with the White House, but did not specify whether she had talked directly with Trump.
«It’s up to him, as an elected official, to determine when is the right timing,» Salazar said of Trump. «When does he want to do this within his presidency?»
«No other president has the political guts to do this, Republicans or Democrats in the last 40 years,» she added.
When reached for comment, a White House official told Fox News Digital the administration is happy to review legislation but is «focused on enforcing the current immigration laws and deporting the millions and millions of criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden let in our country.»
Salazar’s Dignity Act does not provide a pathway to citizenship, but it would make millions of migrants who came into the United States prior to Biden’s presidency eligible for work without fear of deportation.
The legislation would also increase funding for border security, require employers to use E-Verify to verify an individual’s legal status and create a pathway for DACA recipients to obtain permanent residency, among other provisions.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., is urging President Donald Trump to support the Dignity Act, while Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, has sharply criticized the legislation for breaking with the president’s mass deportation agenda. (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Latino Wall Street; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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GOP supporters say the bill is attempting to appeal to the «mass middle» who want some legal protections for long-term migrants with no criminal records who are contributing to their communities — while also slamming the door shut on those who illegally entered the country beginning in 2021.
«I think, frankly, this is what America is looking for,» Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a Republican cosponsor of the bill, told Fox News Digital. «It covers a lot of concerns left and right.
«I think most people want some level of decency,» Bacon added. «You’ve been here for a while, you’ve got a family, you’re working, no criminal record.»
Conservative Republicans aren’t buying it.
«It’s just amnesty. That’s all that is,» Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., an immigration hawk, told Fox News Digital.
Gill said he remains vigorously opposed to the bill after meeting with Salazar for nearly an hour Wednesday to discuss the Dignity Act.
«This is one we’re just diametrically opposed to in irreconcilable ways,» the Texas Republican said, adding that he and Salazar agree on many other policy issues. «I do believe that it very clearly constitutes amnesty.»
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is one of more than a dozen House Republicans who have cosponsored the Dignity Act. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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Despite no clear path forward, Salazar has vowed to continue engaging skeptics about the immigration reform legislation.
She has also shot down the idea of using a discharge petition to team up with Democrats and force a vote on the House floor.
«I’m going to do it the hard way,» Salazar told Fox News Digital.
«I am sure we’re going to be able to get to a yes, and we’re going to be able to solve immigration within the Trump administration,» she added. «I have no doubt about that. Only God the Father knows the time. I’m just waiting.»
politics, immigration, republicans, border security
INTERNACIONAL
Iran escalates Hormuz ‘tit-for-tat,’ seizes ship tied to billionaire close to Trump, Macron
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Tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz April 22 after Iran’s IRGC seized two vessels in what analysts describe as «tit-for-tat» retaliation against the U.S. And one ship is linked to a billionaire shipping family tied to Presidents Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron.
Video aired on Iranian state TV purportedly shows IRGC soldiers seizing the container ships in the Strait, Reuters said Thursday.
One vessel, the MSC Francesca, is owned by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, which was founded by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte and is now controlled by his two children, Fox News Digital has learned.
«Some 20 Iranians armed to the teeth stormed the ship. Sailors are under Iranian control, their movements on the ship are limited but the Iranians are treating them well,» a relative of one of the MSC Francesca seafarers told Reuters.
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Soldiers take part in the seizure of the container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas in the Strait of Hormuz, according to footage broadcast on Iranian state TV and released April 22, 2026. (IRIB/Handout/Reuters)
«The ship is anchored 9 nautical miles from the Iranian coast. Negotiations between MSC and Iran are ongoing, our sailors are fine,» Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, Filip Radulovic, told state broadcaster RTCG.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward AI pointed to IRGC «tit-for-tat» tactics given the recent MSC vessel seizure.
This followed a U.S. naval blockade imposed on April 13, with Tehran warning of retaliation after U.S. forces also seized an Iranian vessel.
«The IRGC attacked three ships. It also captured and took in two of them — the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas — while the Euphoria managed to get away,» Windward AI co-founder Ami Daniel told Fox News Digital.
IRAN FIRES LIVE MISSILES INTO STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TRUMP ENVOYS ARRIVE FOR NUCLEAR TALKS
Soldiers take part in the operation seizing the container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state TV April 22, 2026. (IRIB/Handout/Reuters)
«This is a ‘tit-for-tat’ exercise by the IRGC, which, along with the Houthis, has long claimed MSC is connected to Israel.
«Aponte, owner and chairman, has a Jewish wife, and MSC calls in Israel; however, so do all major liners.»
Diego Aponte, Gianluigi’s son, had been making «inroads with Trump’s circle,» Bloomberg reported April 13.
He also helped arrange a November 2025 White House meeting with Swiss business leaders that led to a preliminary deal to reduce the 39% tariffs imposed on Switzerland over the summer.
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The MSC executive chairman has been photographed with French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters/Stephane Mahe)
Over the last year, MSC’s relationship with the White House also positioned father Gianluigi Aponte as a key player in a $19 billion deal with Li Ka-shing, as MSC and BlackRock moved to acquire two Panama Canal ports under pressure from Trump to place them in «friendly» hands, according to the outlet.
With a net worth of at least $37 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it is Gianluigi Aponte and his wife, Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, who appear to mingle with world leaders.
The MSC executive chairman and Rafaela have been photographed with French President Emmanuel Macron.
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The Panama-flagged MSC Francesca vessel docked in Long Beach, Calif., April 16, 2025. (Efrain Morales/Reuters)
Rafaela is also reportedly related to Alexis Kohler (his mother is said to be her cousin), who served as Macron’s secretary-general from May 2017 to April 14, 2025, and was described as «Macron’s second brain.»
The Aponte family’s vessel, carrying about 40 crew members, was taken toward Iran’s port of Bandar Abbas by the Iranian navy, sources told Reuters Thursday.
Four crew members, including the captain, are from Montenegro, officials said, while Croatia’s foreign ministry confirmed two Croatian nationals are also aboard.
MSC declined to comment, Reuters confirmed.
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The IRGC Navy claimed both vessels captured «were operating without the necessary permits.»
According to Lloyd’s List, the 2008-built MSC Francesca «normally operates in service between the U.S. West Coast, Asia and the Middle East Gulf.»
navy, us navy, middle east, iran, sanctions
INTERNACIONAL
Conservative nonprofit investigates Virginia redistricting vote after court blocks certification
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FIRST ON FOX: A conservative policy group is launching an investigation into Virginia’s redistricting amendment vote after a court blocked certification of the results, raising new questions from critics about how the referendum was conducted and whether election procedures were properly followed.
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is initiating a multi-part probe focused on mail-in ballot handling and alleged classroom political influence, Fox News Digital has learned.
The move comes as the legal fight over the amendment intensifies, with multiple lawsuits pending and the Virginia Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments Monday.
AFPI’s legal team said the first phase of its investigation will involve records requests to several Virginia counties seeking communications and documentation related to how mail-in and absentee ballots were handled during the election. The requests target how applications were processed, how ballots were distributed and accepted, how they were stored and what guidance election officials were operating under.
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A person walks to vote in the Virginia redistricting referendum at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
The group argues those materials are public records required under Virginia law and should clarify whether proper procedures were followed.
«The questions we’re asking aren’t complicated,» said Leigh Ann O’Neil, AFPI’s chief legal affairs officer. «Was the election conducted according to state and federal law? Did teachers improperly turn students into a private grassroots army? And, if so, what will the school district do about it? These are basic questions that demand answers no matter how you voted on Tuesday.»
A second component of the investigation focuses on Fairfax County Public Schools, where AFPI is seeking records related to civics class materials and instruction.
CARVILLE AND CO-HOST LAMENT THAT TRUMP SPARKED A REDISTRICTING WAR, MAKING BOTH PARTIES LOOK CYNICAL
Signs urge early voters to vote yes or no on the Virginia redistricting referendum at the Ellen M. Bozman Government Center in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Early voting continues across the state for Virginia’s redistricting ballot referendum. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
According to the group, some parents have alleged that teachers commented on parents’ political beliefs and encouraged students to persuade their parents how to vote on the referendum. AFPI argues that, if confirmed, such conduct could violate state law, federal law and school district policy governing political activity in publicly-funded classrooms.
The group said it is also sending a letter to the Fairfax County superintendent urging an internal investigation into what it described as «highly concerning reports of partisan voter influence.»
The investigation lands amid a growing legal fight over the amendment. A Virginia court has already moved to block certification of the vote, and the dispute is now moving toward the state’s highest court.
VIRGINIA JUDGE VOIDS REDISTRICTING PUSH, RULES LAWMAKERS OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during a Virginians For Fair Elections canvassing event in Woodbridge, Va., on April 18, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
There are currently three legal challenges pending in Virginia courts, including an original lawsuit brought by state Republicans, which the Virginia Supreme Court is set to hear Monday. There is also a separate case filed in Richmond by GOP Reps. John McGuire and Rob Wittman and a challenge in Tazewell County, where Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley ruled the referendum unconstitutional. An appeal from Virginia Democrat Attorney General Jay Jones is expected.
A ruling in the primary case could come within weeks, with courts under pressure to act before Virginia’s August primary and late-July deadlines for voter registration and mail-in ballots.
AFPI said its investigation is intended to ensure transparency as the legal process unfolds, arguing that if election procedures were properly followed, the records will confirm it — and if not, Virginia voters deserve answers.
The Virginia Supreme Court hearing will be livestreamed, allowing the public to follow arguments as the case moves forward. Meanwhile, AFPI said its probe will continue in phases, with additional findings and requests expected in the coming weeks.
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The Virginia Department of Elections and Fairfax County Public Schools did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Bill Mears and Mark Meredith contributed to this reporting.
virginia, elections, investigations, voting, fox news investigates
INTERNACIONAL
Rebeca Grynspan propone reformar la ONU y priorizar la diplomacia preventiva ante un mundo “encrucijado”
La economista costarricense Rebeca Grynspan, aspirante a la Secretaría General de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, presentó su visión de liderazgo ante Estados miembros y representantes de la sociedad civil, en un contexto internacional marcado por tensiones geopolíticas y crecientes desafíos globales.
Durante un diálogo interactivo, Grynspan advirtió que el mundo atraviesa una “encrucijada”, lo que obliga no solo a defender el papel del organismo multilateral, sino también a impulsar reformas profundas para garantizar su eficacia en el siglo XXI.
“Nuestro mundo está en una encrucijada, y creo que para defender a la ONU, debemos tener el coraje de reformarla”, afirmó la candidata, al detallar tres prioridades estratégicas: paz, reforma institucional y visión de futuro.
Uno de los ejes centrales de su propuesta es reposicionar a la ONU como un actor clave en la prevención de conflictos, mediante una diplomacia constante, activa y anticipatoria.
Grynspan planteó que el organismo debe actuar antes de que las crisis escalen, recuperando su papel como mediador global en escenarios de tensión.
Este enfoque cobra relevancia en un momento en que distintos conflictos internacionales han evidenciado limitaciones en la capacidad de respuesta del sistema multilateral, especialmente en fases tempranas de las crisis.
El segundo pilar de su visión se centra en la necesidad de transformar la ONU en una institución más receptiva, transparente y orientada a resultados concretos.
La candidata subrayó que la legitimidad del organismo depende de su capacidad para responder eficazmente a las necesidades sobre el terreno, lo que implica mejorar la ejecución de programas y fortalecer la rendición de cuentas.
En ese sentido, su propuesta apunta a modernizar la estructura institucional para adaptarla a un entorno global cada vez más dinámico y complejo.
El tercer eje de la propuesta de Grynspan está enfocado en fortalecer la cooperación internacional frente a desafíos emergentes como la inteligencia artificial y el cambio climático.
La economista insistió en que estos retos requieren respuestas coordinadas entre países, evitando que las brechas entre naciones se amplíen.
“Debemos asegurar que ninguna nación, grande o pequeña, se quede atrás”, señaló, al destacar la importancia de construir consensos globales inclusivos.
Las declaraciones de Grynspan se producen en un momento en que la Organización de las Naciones Unidas enfrenta cuestionamientos sobre su efectividad ante crisis prolongadas, conflictos armados y retos globales de gran escala.
El proceso de selección del próximo secretario general será determinante para redefinir el rumbo del organismo, en un contexto donde el multilateralismo enfrenta presiones y desafíos crecientes.
En ese escenario, la candidatura de la costarricense ha comenzado a generar expectativa, tanto por su trayectoria en organismos internacionales como por su perfil técnico y diplomático.
En su mensaje final, Grynspan apeló al origen de la ONU como una organización nacida de la necesidad de reconstruir tras momentos críticos de la historia mundial.
“La ONU nació de la esperanza y del coraje para construir de nuevo. Estoy lista para recorrer este camino para crear un futuro más fuerte y más unido”, concluyó.
Sus planteamientos se suman al debate internacional sobre el futuro del organismo y el tipo de liderazgo que se requiere para enfrentar los desafíos globales de las próximas décadas.
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