Rep. Jayapal shares why she is ‘proud’ to be American, even amid Trump’s 250 takeover

Rep. Pramila Jayapal told MS NOW she is not letting President Donald Trump put a damper on her celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The Washington Democrat, who is one of only 19 naturalized citizens serving in Congress, joined “The Weeknight” to reflect on her citizenship journey and share how she plans to mark the country’s milestone anniversary. 

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“It took me 17 years to become a U.S. citizen, and I get emotional when I think about it every day,” said Jayapal, who was born in India and came to America as a teenager in 1982 to attend college. 

“My parents sent me here at 16 years old, by myself, because they believed that America was the best country in the world,” she shared Wednesday, adding that the U.S. was the place they thought she was “going to have the most opportunity.”

After almost two decades, Jayapal officially became a citizen in 2000. “When I took that oath, I remember holding my hand up, and I was in this sea of people who had come from all over the world, many who had had much more difficult journeys than mine,” she said. “And we all stood there — and I’m getting chills and I’m going to get emotional talking about it — we all stood there because we felt so proud.”

“We felt so proud that we had made it here,” she continued. “We felt so proud of the promise that is America.”