Hispanic residents of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district in Queens complain that more recent arrivals are bringing crime to the area.
Jackson Heights is a diverse neighborhood in New York City with a strong Hispanic community at the heart of its electorate.
But in the past year it also became home to asylum seekers, about 10,000 of whom cross the border every day, arriving from Texas.
These migrants set up unlicensed markets on the streets with rock bottom prices that local shops cannot compete with, while others cause problems at night.
Longtime immigrants claimed it was no longer safe to walk the streets after dark, and accused Ocasio-Cortez of abandoning them.
Locals in Jackson Heights said migrants are setting up unlicensed markets on the streets with rock-bottom prices that local stores can’t compete with, while others are causing problems at night
A local who volunteered for Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign said the Democratic representative was ‘never here’ and only cared about her national profile
The self-described socialist congresswoman strongly supports pro-immigration policies and said more work permits would solve the problem.
A local volunteer for Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign said the Democratic representative was “never here” and only cared about her national profile.
“She has completely left our community… we all helped her get elected… you can’t walk around here after 7 p.m.,” she said Fox news in Spanish.
“She said all she cares about is Washington and her money. No one here loves her anymore.”
A local man said Ocasio-Cortez should spend more time walking the streets of her neighborhood to see what had become.
“See how all the people, all the trash, the people being robbed – day or night,” he said.
Another woman who spoke Spanish said she no longer felt safe in her own community because of newer immigrants.
‘I really feel very unsafe. “I’ve had three times where someone tried to attack me, tried to pull my gold chain,” she said.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez strongly supports pro-immigration policies and said more work permits would solve the problem
A younger man who spoke English with a Latin American accent blamed President Joe Biden for the immigration surge and said crime was on the rise
‘I really feel very unsafe. I’ve had three times where someone tried to attack me, tried to pull my gold chain,” this woman said
A father said he couldn’t let his son out of his sight because he couldn’t constantly protect him from crime.
“Every week someone was killed on the corner, someone was bitten… a lot of people don’t want to come because they come with their families and see that,” said another woman.
A younger man who spoke English with a Latin American accent blamed President Joe Biden for the immigration surge and said crime was on the rise.
‘There’s so much immigration. There are so many Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, Mexicans who have crossed… thanks to Biden,” he said.
A Venezuelan couple who run a local eatery said they have been hit hard by increased crime and competition from illegal markets.
“Everyone goes home early and closes early because of the crime situation… We would ask her (Ocasio-Cortez) to do her job by taking care of this neighborhood,” the man said in Spanish.
His wife added: “We are proud of our place. We work very hard.
“We are immigrants who came here for the right reasons to work, and we just want those who don’t follow the law to be held accountable.”
Ramses Frias, a former Democrat running for State Assembly, said the neighborhood had deteriorated and was now dull with crime and overcrowded junk.
A Venezuelan couple who run a local eatery said they have been hit hard by increased crime and competition from illegal markets
Centuries-old immigrants claimed it was no longer safe to walk the streets after dark
A migrant set up an unlicensed food worker on the sidewalk
Ramses Frias, a former Democrat running for State Assembly, said the neighborhood had deteriorated and was now dull with crime and overcrowded junk.
“Physical businesses are suffering a lot,” he said.
“We have a lot of closed doors, a lot of businesses that are closing every day because they can’t compete with the prices of… the street vendors outside are giving everyone.”
Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement to Fox News that the unlicensed markets could be solved by allowing more asylum seekers to work legally.
“What we see here is the result of anti-immigrant policies that deny immigrants proper work and sales permits and push them into the shadows of undignified conditions,” she said.
“This is just one of the many ways that anti-immigrant policies harm us all. Pathways to citizenship and job documentation could solve this problem, but Republicans would rather block them so they can film people for their opinions at their worst moments.”