Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal says "we need" immigrants to "clean our homes"

There is an old Spanish saying that goes like this: "He who has a mouth is wrong." It means that anyone can make a mistake, and the phrase is used to excuse someone who has said something incorrect or inappropriate. However, many Americans neither want to nor can forgive Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic representative from Washington, for her serious gaffe in justifying the influx of immigrants. The United States "needs" immigrants to "pick the food we eat" and "clean our homes," Jayapal said in an address to the House Judiciary Committee debating the Border Security Act of 2023.

Her statements provoked criticism from the political world as well as from everyday citizens. "Now you know why Democrats [like Jayapal] support mass illegal immigration," Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs said on Twitter, calling it "faux compassion." Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said, "Clean your own home, you entitled fool." Another user left a blunt message alluding to the American dream: "Immigrants come to America to pursue the American dream, not to clean Democrats' houses."

Last year, Jayapal praised Joe Biden for his plans to abolish Title 42, which allows illegal aliens to be returned to Mexico or their home countries immediately, barring exceptions, and said that Democrats who "criticized the previous administration, but [are] now saying, oh, there’s a problem here, and going to the border and making it seem like there’s a problem here" need to remember the fact that "we are a country that has prided ourselves on allowing immigrants to come from all over the world." In 2021, Pramila Jayapal wept as she pleaded with President Biden to include amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants in the $3.5 billion economic package. In 2019, she asked the Donald Trump administration to pay reparations to families who were separated after entering the country legally or illegally.