Rep. Pramila Jayapal calls for reparations for illegal immigrants impacted by Trump crackdown
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Amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, a congressional Democrat is calling for reparations for affected foreign nationals.
“We’re going to have some form of reparation for the children and families who have been traumatized by all of this,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said Friday at a congressional hearing, referring to illegal immigrants. “You talked about how there’s no support for people even once they’re released. We need to make sure we’re funding this kind of work to continue to provide relief.”
Jayapal, the former chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), made the comments during the seventh installment of a series of hearings titled “Abductions and Disappearances: Trump’s Attack on Children.”
The left-leaning congresswoman said reparations for illegal immigrants affected by Trump’s enforcement efforts would be just one part of a series of reforms she would push Democrats to pursue if they regain control of the House in November.
Residents confront federal agents and Border Patrol agents over their presence in their neighborhood on Atlantic Blvd. in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell. California passed a law last year banning officials from wearing masks. (Getty Images)
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Jayapal, who was born in India and became a US citizen in 2000, also said she wanted “offensive action” against those leading Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“We need real accountability, because ultimately the people who inflicted this harm need to be prosecuted,” Jayapal said. “They need to be brought before us and they need to be held accountable for the trauma they created.”
A spokeswoman for Jayapal did not respond to a request from Fox Digital about who she specifically wants to see prosecuted or who would be eligible for relief.
Reparations refer to financial compensation for a specific group intended to repair deemed economic harm. Many progressive Democrats have long advocated for reparations for the descendants of American slaves.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal is proposing reparations for illegal immigrants if Democrats regain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Throughout the hearing, congressional Democrats repeatedly focused attention on the children of deported illegal immigrants, while saying little about the victims of illegal immigrant crime.
The group of Democratic lawmakers did not discuss Sheridan Gorman, 18, who was allegedly shot and killed by a Venezuelan national living illegally in the United States in Chicago earlier this month.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois, January 26. (left) Sheridan Gorman was killed after being shot in the head by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant while walking with friends at Tobey Prinz Beach, located less than a mile from the Illinois campus, around 1 a.m. Thursday. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram)
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Jayapal’s comments came during a record Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation that has continued to drag on with no end in sight.
She and nearly all House Democrats refused to fund the department until the Trump administration agreed to various proposals that could curb immigration enforcement.
“I have been clear since the beginning of the appropriations process: I will not vote to give one more cent to Trump’s ICE or CBP without major reforms,” Jayapal said Friday after her vote against a two-month extension of DHS funding.
Although Democrats have been willing to fund the non-immigration portions of DHS, most Republicans have rejected the idea because it would result in less funding for law enforcement.
Zeroing out appropriations for ICE and the Border Patrol would continue to force support staff employed by those agencies — who have not received their full salaries during the seven weeks of unfunding — to continue working without pay.
