Cameron Orr/PW
Make the Road New Jersey and the Working Families Party hosted a rally and march on November 9 in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty on Jersey City’s Grundy Pier. The rally was held to help build the fightback against the incoming Trump administration, following the elections which have also resulted in a GOP-controlled Senate and House, along with a Supreme Court already dominated by the extreme right.
Over a hundred came from various unions and community organizations, including SEIU, CWA District 1, LIUNA Local 189, New JerseyJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice, Black Lives Matter of Paterson, the New Jersey Policy Perspective, New Jersey Citizen Action, Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, the Hudson–Bergen club of the CPUSA, and many others.
Also among them were several elected officials representing nearby areas, including Jersey City councilmembers James Solomon and Yousef Saleh, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Rep. Bob Menendez, and Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
The tension and apprehension of the moment gave way to energy and renewed fervor. Rejecting the racist and fascist MAGA movement, crowds of people from every race opposed Trump’s anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-LGTBQ, and reactionary rhetoric.
New Jersey Working Families Party director Antoinette Miles began by acknowledging that, regardless of who was going to win the election, the work of the organization and its allies never intended to end at the ballot box.
“Election Day was always about the conditions in which we organized, and that is what I’m speaking of today. … Even though we are entering darker times and a political crisis, we’re not waiting until 2025 to draw a line in the sand against Donald Trump, and while he may be in power, it does not mean that we are powerless!”
Chris Capers, LIUNA member, and Jersey City resident, went into detail about his union’s progress supporting immigrants who have been under attack by the Trump administration and have been exploited by their employers.
“Here in Jersey City for the past two years, LIUNA has organized hundreds of immigrant non-union workers whose wages were stolen on high-rise construction projects. Every worker deserves a livable wage and benefits. I fought that fight last week, I’m fighting for today, and I’ll fight for the next four years!”
Cesar Romero of Make the Road New Jersey came to the podium in defense of immigrants like himself, and the families of immigrants.
“We are facing that grim reality of a president that has repeatedly dehumanized and demonized our immigrant communities. We are facing politicians who insist on using our immigrant community as scapegoats. They blame us for the economy, for the high cost of living and we know that narrative is not true, right? Immigrants are the backbone of this state and this country.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka | Cameron Orr/PW
Romero went on to list many of the actions he hoped to convince New Jersey’s state representatives to support, including codifying the Office of New Americans to create community centers dedicated to funding outreach within immigrant communities; passing the Immigrant Trust Act, which would codify and expand key protections that the Attorney General can use to defend immigrants; allowing unemployment insurance to be accessible to non-citizens; and establishing a right to counsel program so that immigrants facing detention have access to an attorney and legal representation.
Newark mayor and candidate for governor of New Jersey, Ras Baraka made his way to the stage with two of his children and led the crowd in the chant, “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” With Ellis Island less than a mile away, he reminded the rally-goers:
“Millions of immigrants around this country helped create what we know as America today; helped develop the labor movement we know today; fought for an eight-hour day; fought for child labor laws; united with former slaves and working-class women to make sure the right to vote visited everybody’s homes.”
“That fight is also tied to the fight of everything else,” he said, highlighting the fight for housing reform, increasing wages, access to child care, criminal justice reform, women’s ability to make their own health care decisions, and ending the high rates of maternal mortality among African American women.
“The minute we divide these fights up … we lose.”
Baraka’s message of unity in struggle was well received by the crowd, who cheered and shouted as he declared, “The people united will never be defeated!”
Zellie Thomas of Black Lives Matter Paterson built on this theme.
“We are here for every living creature on this planet. And that’s important for us to say because take a breath right now.” The brisk air was charred with the smell of burning wood. “The other side that won, wants to say that climate change isn’t real! But you see all these forest fires? … You smell that smoke?” A recent drought affecting New Jersey further exacerbated by windy conditions has caused wildfires all over the state.
“It’s just not about protecting ourselves and protecting this planet. It’s about protecting the people that’s coming after us,” Thomas said. “That’s something … that all indigenous people know, and that’s why they’re trying to get rid of us.”
Thomas finished his speech by urging the crowd not to isolate themselves and to avoid resorting to individualism and tribalism.
Zellie Thomas of Black Lives Matter Paterson | Cameron Orr/PW
Before inviting NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice director Amy Torres to the stage, Miles stressed the importance of building political independence.
“We know that in this election where working people were left behind, it was the rigid two-party system that didn’t allow for working people to fully express their frustrations and outrage, and that is why we are in the situation we are in,” Miles argued. “We must be abundantly clear as we build our coalitions about … why we are building independent political power in the state of New Jersey and across the country.”
Torres’ speech highlighted the political power of immigrant communities. First, she pointed out that in NJ, nearly one out of every four people is an immigrant, over 40 percent of children come from immigrant families, and one out of every three households speak a language other than English. By organizing and fighting back, NJ immigrants have defeated Trump’s ICE raids, corporate labor abusers and polluters like Amazon, and private prison profiteers like CoreCivic and Geo Group.
She recounted the response to Trump’s first term: “In 2017, New Jerseyans sent a resounding message when they went to the polls that November. They said, ‘We need pro-immigration policies here in New Jersey,’ and in 2018, when that new administration took office, we passed the Immigrant Trust Directive. No longer will law enforcement — who already targets, who already over-surveils our communities — no longer can they cooperate with federal immigration enforcement to make ICE arrests.” Passing the Immigrant Trust Directive would strengthen these protections.
Other recent victories Torres highlighted include winning New Jersey’s first language access law, drivers’ licenses for all legislation, canceling an Amazon hub in Newark, and banning detention agreements with ICE.
“Presidents come and go. Immigrants are here to stay!” she cried.
As the rally came to a close, attendees began to assemble behind their banners, preparing to march along the riverfront. “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” and other chants of unity filled the air, showing determination to defeat Trump’s far-right movement.
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