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In a bold move, Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, has advocated for reparations to be granted to illegal immigrants, citing the trauma they endured due to the stringent immigration policies enforced during the Trump administration. These policies, she argues, were particularly damaging during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations conducted throughout the United States.
Jayapal unveiled this controversial stance on Friday while presiding over a hearing she organized, which was aptly titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Attack on Children.” During this session, she was joined by a panel of experts who contributed their insights into the impacts of these policies.
Concluding the hearing, Jayapal emphasized the necessity of reparations by stating, “We are going to have to have some form of reparation for the kids and the families that have been traumatized through all of this.” Her statement underscores her commitment to addressing the emotional and psychological toll these policies have taken on affected families.
Born in India and having become a U.S. citizen in 2000, the 60-year-old lawmaker has consistently been an outspoken critic of former President Trump, particularly regarding his administration’s aggressive stance on immigration.
Under Trump’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security conducted numerous ICE operations aimed at targeting illegal immigrants. These operations often incited violent confrontations between federal agents and immigration supporters, tragically culminating in incidents such as the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Jayapal serves as the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.
She threatened to move forward with her reparations proposal if the Democrats win back control of the House and elect her to lead the subcommittee.
“If I am chair of the immigration subcommittee, we will be pursuing all of these pieces,” Jayapal indicated.
“We need offensive actions around prosecutions. We need real accountability because at the end of the day, the people that have been inflicting this harm need to be prosecuted,” Jayapal said. “They need to be brought before us and they need to be held account for the trauma that they have created.
In Jaypal’s half-baked proposal, the reparations would be used to fund “support” for the people who didn’t receive relief following their interactions with immigration officials.
“There’s a lot that’s on our plate but I want you to know how seriously we take this issue and how committed I am,” she said.
Jayapal didn’t reveal how the reparations would be funded or how her subcommittee would evaluate who would be eligible to receive such funds.
The fifth-term congresswoman used her anti-ICE stance as the reason she voted against Friday night’s House-passed stopgap bill.
“I have been clear since the start of the appropriations process; I will not vote to give Trump’s ICE or CBP another cent without major reforms,” she said in a statement. “ICE and CBP agents have killed American citizens on the streets, terrorized communities, and forever traumatized families and children. Republicans in the House and Senate continue to refuse to implement any meaningful reforms — it appears they want ICE and CBP to continue their lawless reign of terror against American families and communities.”
The bill, passed with by a 213-209 vote would fund the entire DHS for 60 days, but it is unlikely to make it past the Senate.
The DHS has been unfunded since Feb. 14.
Senate Democrats have leveraged the 60-vote filibuster to block funding for DHS while demanding sweeping reforms to ICE, including restrictions on the ability of agents to wear masks and a tighter judicial warrant system — both of which Republicans have rejected.
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has supplied funds to ICE and CBP until 2029, with the shutdown only affecting other portions of Homeland Security, including TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard.