Pramila Jayapal

“For immigrant women, fighting for some of the standard platforms of the women's movement may feel unthinkable when deportation is staring you in the face every day.”

“Compromise for compromise sake is never good, unless it is grounded in principles.”

“When bosses, leaders, and powerful men and women ignore or deny the accounts of harassment victims, they reinforce the idea that harassers are playing the game as they should and that the rest of us should fall in line.”

“People who think that the immigration system is easy and people should just apply legally - it just isn't that easy.”

“I've been told to go back to my country so many times, I can't even count.”

“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.”

“I'm not a complainer. I'm a doer. So if I see something is wrong, then I feel like I have to get in there and try to fix it.”

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

“Immigration is about more than just who comes here and who is allowed to stay. It is about who we are as a country and what we are willing to stand up for.”

“I feel like young people, more than anyone in the country, always have their moral compass on perfectly straight.”

“Getting a college degree used to be free or low cost because, as a society, we saw providing higher education to young people as an investment - in them and in the future of our own country.”

“Some people have called me the anti-Trump, and I'm so proud.”

“I'm conscious of my race and ethnicity in the legislature - it's hard not to be.”

“I like being on a plane with no phone service because I get so much work done.”

“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.'”

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

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

“I am grateful for my family, friends, and all those who send constant love and support - you are my energy and my hope. You teach me, love me even when I'm wrong, and let me ride the challenges and come out whole.”

“Before running for the Washington State Senate in 2014, I had spent 20 years as an activist. I had always believed that we needed to push for change on the outside, through community organizing and advocacy.”

“I would attend a State of the Union by a president with whom I disagree if I felt she or he was otherwise respectful and adhered to basic moral values or basic tenets of civility and respect.”