Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a video posted to social media Friday that illegal immigrants should receive “reparations” for the “trauma” inflicted by the Trump administration.
During remarks on the House floor Friday, Jayapal hinted that a future Democratic administration should pursue criminal charges for those involved in the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The left-wing lawmaker made her comments during a hearing she hosted titled, “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Attack on Our Children.”
“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 at the hearing. “They need to be brought before us and they need to be held account for the trauma that they have created and we are going to have to have some form of reparation.”
Democrats have vehemently opposed President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, particularly his administration’s mobilization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lawmakers in the party are demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement after federal agents were involved in two fatal shootings during January clashes with anti-ICE demonstrators. The clashes came after Trump ordered the deployment of additional personnel to Minnesota in response to reports about welfare fraud involving Somali migrants.
Senate Democrats have blocked legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security by using the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to stop. Democrats demanded new restrictions on ICE, including for its agents to stop wearing masks and to obtain judicial warrants before entering private property to apprehend alleged illegal migrants.
Jayapal is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement, according to the House of Representatives website. She previously chaired the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus from 2019 to 2025.
Trump won a decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election largely due to his vow to crack down on illegal immigration, which reached unprecedented levels under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. The president signed executive orders on the first day of his second term designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the Salvadoran gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations.
Jayapal’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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