Pramila Jayapal Quotes

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Pramila Jayapal

Profession : Politician

Birth : September 21, 1965

I want to remind women of color out there to stand your ground, and don't ever be afraid to speak up.

Pramila Jayapal

After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember thinking to myself, 'Nothing is ever going to be the same in this country for people who look like me.'

Pramila Jayapal

My big idea is that democracy can only work properly if you have truly representative people at the table.

Pramila Jayapal

If someone tells me that something can't be done, that makes me more determined to do it.

Pramila Jayapal

There isn't really precedent for asylum seekers' being criminally prosecuted at the border before they've had a 'credible fear' hearing. You come seeking asylum. Seeking asylum is not illegal.

Pramila Jayapal

Ripping children away from their parents has a particular shameful history, both in this country and around the world.

Pramila Jayapal

We must be clear: Donald Trump is lying when he conflates immigrants coming across the border with MS-13 gangs.

Pramila Jayapal

Individuals whose asylum claims have been accepted have gone on to become professors, soldiers in our military, artists, and more.

Pramila Jayapal

Every hour that goes by with family separation policies in effect is another hour that mothers weep thinking of their children, another hour that kids are fearfully wondering where their parents have been taken, another hour that trauma deepens.

Pramila Jayapal

We are a country that has always been known for providing opportunities to people. We have lost a lot of that opportunity.

Pramila Jayapal

I was on the committee that helped raise the minimum wage here in Seattle. I introduced a statewide bill to raise the minimum wage in Washington state my first year in the state senate, and I really believe that raising the federal minimum wage, while not the answer to everything, addresses a lot of the issues at the very bottom.

Pramila Jayapal

We have to have a planet to pass on to the next generation, and these issues of climate change and climate justice and the disproportionate burdens that communities of color actually bear from our damaging climate is a huge issue.

Pramila Jayapal

I have my chops in organizing, and I know how to create political space through movement building.

Pramila Jayapal

Trump has hated Amazon for a long time, and I think that that came out in many interviews that he's done with 'Vanity Fair' and with others.

Pramila Jayapal

Fundamentally, I've always been a fan of actually looking at our whole state tax system and really figuring out how we reform our tax system so that everyone's paying their fair share but we don't have a lot of nickel and diming with 100 taxes that end up hitting people that maybe can't bear it the most.

Pramila Jayapal

As difficult as my story is, it's nothing compared to the people I've worked with. And so I just want to do everything I can to make sure that America continues to be a land of opportunity and hope for people and refuge for people from all over the world.

Pramila Jayapal

This is the country that we are turning over to young people, and there is going to be no country left at this rate because Trump is destroying the soul of who we are.

Pramila Jayapal

I came to the United States by myself when I was 16 years old. My parents had about $5,000 in their bank account, and they used it all to send me here because they truly believed that this country was where I was going to get the best education and have the best opportunities.

Pramila Jayapal

What Republicans so cynically refer to as 'chain migration' is actually family-based immigration - a humane and compassionate policy of reunifying families. It allows spouses to be together, siblings to support each other, and children to be with their parents. It allows the immigrants who are already here to be successful.

Pramila Jayapal

The vast majority of immigrants - regardless of the conditions of war and poverty that may wrack their home countries - come and contribute to their new home country: building our roads, caring for our homes, children, and elders, and serving as doctors, lawyers, employers, and innovators.

Pramila Jayapal