Hudson County Immigration At A Crossroads This 2024 Election

Photo by Adrienne J. Romero / SOC Images.

As the Biden administration raised the cap of refugees from a record-low of 15,000 to 125,000 nationwide, a Harris vs. Trump ticket leaves Hudson County residents in the dark as they wonder what will come next for immigration.

Hudson County has long served as a place of refuge for immigrants.

According to the US Census, 42.5% of the county’s population were born outside of the country, surpassing the national average of 13.6% in 2022. Before this, Hudson County served as a first stop for immigrants entering the US via Ellis Island welcoming people from countries like Italy, Hungary, Poland and Russia.

An important point in Hudson County’s history of immigration is Hoboken becoming known as “the port of entry to a continent” as its population rose from 43,648 in 1890 to 70,324 in 1910. Later on, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 facilitated the entry of non-European immigrants to the US. This then allowed Cuban immigrants to escape the Castro revolution, moving to places like Union City and West New York.

With notable life-changing events happening around the world, such as the war in Palestine and Israel and the Maduro regime in Venezuela, another chapter in the story of immigration in Hudson County remains unwritten as the 2024 election approaches.

Trump has had an anti-immigration track record since 2016, referring to Latinx people as “bad hombres” and beginning his presidency with a travel ban affecting mostly Middle Eastern countries, which many have called a “Muslim Ban.” According to CBS News, Trump promised a travel ban “even bigger than before” in July of 2023.

Despite the Democratic Party’s previous stance on an open border, Harris’s campaign website has yet to include any policy plans on immigration. Harris became open to public scrutiny and the subject of memes when addressing Guatemalans wanting to cross the United States-Mexico border in 2021, saying: “Do not come.”

In her first interview since becoming a presidential candidate, Harris has made it clear that her strategy on how to navigate issues on the border has not changed.

“I believe there should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address people that cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence,” she tells CNN’s Dana Bash.

Harris also claims that she was working on a bipartisan bill that would bring 1,500 agents to the border to provide border patrol some relief. She says that this would have increased the amount of seizures of fentanyl, a major concern in the Republican Party that has served as a catalyst to their closed-border position. However, Harris says her opponent Trump has swayed Republicans in Congress’s opinions, blaming him for “killing” the bill.

“[Trump] told his folks in Congress: ‘Don’t put it forward.’ He killed the bill. A border security bill that would’ve put 1,500 more agents on the border. Let me tell you something, the border patrol endorsed the bill. That bill would’ve allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl, ask any community in America that has been devastated by fentanyl what passing that bill would’ve done to address their concern and pain that they’ve experienced,” she said.

Despite the setbacks, Harris has promised that the bill will come to fruition during her presidency. “I will make sure that it comes to my desk and I would sign it,” Harris said.

Cesar Estela is an immigration lawyer who has served New Jersey through his own practice since 2010. Through this, he can say that feelings of anxiety tend to arise during an election year no matter who is on the ballot.

“Every election year you’ll see people in a ‘wait and see’ pattern. ‘Oh, let me wait and see if Trump or Hillary is gonna win, let me wait and see if Obama’s gonna be reelected, let me see if Biden, Trump’s gonna win.’ That always happens,” he said. “For [immigrants,] [it’s] the most important thing on their minds. ‘Am I gonna get to stay in this country?’ ‘Am I gonna get to stay with my family?’ That’s really scary to think about.”

While Estela acknowledges that many will wait for election results to make decisions about their immigration journey, he says that there is still a history we can refer back to in the midst of uncertainty.

“The Biden administration has shown quite a bit of charity, mercy and consideration in terms of implementing asylum laws. I don’t know if the Trump administration would be so welcoming,” he said, citing that the Biden administration has extended work authorization time periods and allowed spouses of U.S. Citizens to stay in the country while they await the green card application process.

“I could see how a Trump administration would probably cancel [those programs.] The Biden administration is trying to do something to have meaningful impact to citizens and their children and these mixed families, these blended families. Whether they’re Republican or Democrats, it doesn’t matter, they’re keeping them together. You would do that with puppies, but somehow because they’re immigrants, there’s a negative connotation.”

Estela also looks further back from the Biden and Trump presidencies to observe the Democratic party’s groundbreaking work for immigrants in the country, despite the contradictory stance Harris takes now with a border bill.

“As an immigration lawyer, the Democratic party has consistently delivered changes that have meaningful impact on the lives of citizens, their spouses, and their families. DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] was created under Obama. I601-A provisional waivers [were] created under Obama. Military parole in place was created under Obama. These are three meaningful programs that have significant day-to-day impact, and that’s not even with me thinking really hard about other changes that were made.”

In New Jersey, there’s a number of organizations, coalitions and nonprofits that work to assist undocumented individuals and families for free through educational classes and workshops, legal representation and more.

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