Kamal Ghorui
Indian-origin US lawmaker Pramila Jayapal has called for reparations for undocumented immigrants, saying families were “traumatized” by immigration enforcement under US president Donald Trump.Speaking at a congressional hearing titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Attack on Children”, Jayapal said compensation may be needed for those affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. “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,” Jayapal said at the conclusion of the hearing.Jayapal is a Democrat from Washington state who was born in India and became a US citizen in 2000. She has been a vocal critic of Trump’s immigration policies. During his presidency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a series of enforcement drives aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants across the country.She argued that those operations led to harm. “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. She added: “They need to be brought before us and they need to be held account for the trauma that they have created.”The proposal remains broad. Jayapal did not outline how such reparations would be funded or how eligibility would be determined. She suggested that the payments could be used to provide “support” to individuals who did not receive relief after encounters with immigration authorities.The issue comes amid heightened political tensions over immigration enforcement. Federal crackdowns have at times led to clashes between officers and pro-immigration protesters. In Minnesota, two individuals, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed in incidents linked to such confrontations.Jayapal serves as the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement. She said she would push forward with her proposal if Democrats regain control of the House. “If I am chair of the immigration subcommittee, we will be pursuing all of these pieces,” she said.She also linked her stance to her opposition to a recent stopgap funding bill for DHS. “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. She added: “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, which passed the House by a narrow margin, seeks to fund the department for 60 days but faces uncertainty in the Senate, where Democrats are pushing for stricter oversight and reforms to immigration enforcement agencies.
