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Pramila Jayapal is the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role on the subcommittee. (File)
Washington:
Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been appointed ranking member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee, becoming the first immigrant to hold a leadership role on the subcommittee.
Jayapal, 57, who represents Washington state’s 7th Congressional District, will replace Rep. Zoe Lofgren as a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement, according to a media release.
“As the first woman of South Asian descent elected to the United States House of Representatives and one of only 24 naturalized citizens in Congress, I am honored and humbled to serve as the ranking member of the House Immigration Security, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee,” Jayapal said.
“I came to this country when I was 16, alone and with nothing. I struggled through 17 years of visa queues to become a U.S. citizen and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live the American dream, a dream that is out of reach for many immigrants today,” she said.
“It means a lot to me to serve in this role to help shape our broken immigration system and rebuild it around dignity, humanity and justice. As I take on this role, I want to thank Rep. Lofgren for her years of dedicated leadership on the Subcommittee and look forward to continuing to work with her,” Jayapal said.
As the House Judiciary Committee begins its work, it is unfortunately becoming clear that the committee’s Republican leadership has no intention of working in good faith towards immigration reform, said an Indian-American congressman from Washington state.
“As the minority Democrats, we must be the opposition party that stands up to the Republican Party’s most extreme ideas and defends our values. But in this role, I also look forward to bipartisan work with some of the more moderate Republicans who understand the need to restore our country as a beacon of hope,” she said.
The House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Security, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee is chaired by Tom McClintock (California’s 5th District) and is responsible for immigration law and policy, naturalization, border security, refugee admissions, cross-border immigration enforcement, and a variety of other issues.
“Fighting for immigration reform is a core tenet of Rep. Jayapal’s work in Congress. She has introduced several landmark bills and resolutions that provide the framework for a fair and humane immigration system, including the Roadmap to Freedom Resolution, Access to Counsel Act, Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, WISE Act, Protection of Children in Immigrant Detention Act and the HEAL Act,” she said.
Prior to coming to Congress, Jayapal was a longtime immigrant rights organizer and activist: after the September 11 attacks, he founded One America (formerly Hate Free Zone), Washington state’s largest immigrant rights group, filed a successful lawsuit against the Bush Administration to stop the deportation of more than 4,000 Somalis, and worked with the governor to establish the New Americans Council on Immigrant Integration at the state level.
Her work with One America earned her recognition as a champion for change from the Obama Administration. She was the founding co-chair of the “We Belong Together” campaign, which mobilized women to support commonsense immigration reform to keep families together and empower women. She was also arrested during a civil obedience demonstration protesting the Trump Administration’s dehumanizing family separation policies.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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