Jayapal Hosts Shadow Hearing on Trump’s Assault on Chicago

The full hearing can be watched HERE.

CHICAGO, IL - U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, today hosted a shadow hearing titled Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump's Assault on Chicago. Nineteen Members of Congress attended from across the Chicago area, Illinois, and the country.

"Here in Chicago, the administration is going to war with its own citizens, unleashing a kind of violence and inhumanity that we never thought we would see in an American city. The uncontrolled violence has separated families, and inflicted chaos on communities and businesses. Masked men on the streets, kidnapping and disappearing people of all immigration statuses, including US citizens," said Jayapal. "With 19 members of Congress here from all over the country, this is the largest act of Congressional immigration oversight since Trump took office. As we conduct this oversight, we have seen incredible resilience and organizing in the community - and we will continue to stand with them in this work."

The witnesses at this hearing included testimony from Lawrence Benito, Executive Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Reverend David Black, Senior Pastor, The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Bob Reiter, President, Chicago Federation of Labor, Kevin Fee, Legal Director, ACLU of Illinois, Genesis O., a directly affected community member, Juliet de Jesus Alejandre, Executive Director, Palenque LSNA, and Any Huamani, Immigration Defense Coordinator. Their testimony can be viewed in full HERE.

This was the fourth shadow hearing in this series, each of which has focused on a different aspect of immigration oversight. The others have focused on families that have been torn apart, unlawful third country deportations, and efforts to undermine due process.

Jayapal was joined at this hearing by Representatives Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Sean Casten (IL-06), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Bill Foster (IL-11), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).

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Issues: Immigration