On a day meant to celebrate independence, freedom and the United States, Documented spoke to New Yorkers in Sunset Park, Bushwick, and Jackson Heights — neighborhoods with large immigrant populations — to understand how they are feeling in the country at this moment.
Sunset Park
On the sunny morning of July 4, Joe Fernandez met friends outside Juan’s Barber Shop in Sunset Park to eat Dominican chicken stew out of styrofoam containers. It wasn’t a day off for most of them, though the atmosphere was leisurely.
“If you skip one day, …”, lamented Fernandez, whose maintenance shift in Manhattan ended at 7 o’clock that morning. Noting rising rents and expensive groceries, Fernandez explained how his neighbors have been forced to navigate showing up for work and trying to stay out of the eye of federal agents. Last month, revenue for many Sunset Park businesses plunged 25-30% due to fears driven by arrests.
“They’ve been around here all the time, ICE,” he said. “You don’t see people walking around here today, especially because they are afraid.” Fernandez became a U.S. citizen after moving from the Dominican Republic in 1976, but is concerned for others. “When I see all the things that these people do to these people, the way they come and try to drag ‘em out of the house […] just because they’re ICE. That doesn’t sound good, it doesn’t seem like the United States.”
Hui Huang’s family moved from Brooklyn to Nebraska a few years ago. They returned to Sunset Park last week so his children could celebrate Independence Day where they grew up. As they darted up and down a hill, squabbling over whether or not to allow “tag backs,” Huang reflected on the threats immigrants are facing today. “Everybody’s thinking, talking, about this. … ICE, they catch people, even in Nebraska. It’s the middle of America; they still come.” His kids were happy to be back in their old neighborhood and to see their cousins, but Huang also wanted to show them some of the history they’ve been learning about in school — on this trip, they visited the 9/11 Memorial, and the Statue of Liberty.
Also Read: Bearing Witness to ICE Arrests at Lower Manhattan Courthouses
A few yards away, Pedro, 53, and his daughter Jarexy, 18, who only felt comfortable sharing their first names, spent the day together, something they only get to do once a week. Jarexy translated as her father spoke about immigrating from Mexico at 19. As Pedro reflected on the holiday’s meaning and his journey to the country, his eyes welled up.
“Siéntate,” Jarexy told him, patting the space next to her in their striped hammock. She says that even though her father knows that some “people in America who don’t necessarily want him here,” he maintains that he doesn’t feel intimidated. Still, Jarexy worries about him. Most days, she doesn’t know where he is working. If he was ever detained, she is concerned she wouldn’t know “until he was back in Mexico.”
Jackson Heights
Nirajan Badgami, of Jackson Heights, moved from Nepal 18 years ago. These days, he says he’ll take any chance to celebrate. Though he already runs an organization supporting Nepalese immigrants in Queens, he’s hoping to join the NYPD’s volunteer Auxiliary Police. “I am an immigrant to this country. I need to give something back,” he said, patting his hand over his heart. Directly across from where Badgami was perched on a stoop is 34th Ave, part of the city’s Open Streets program. For a federal holiday, it was strangely empty.
Sixty-four percent of Jackson Heights’s population is foreign-born. But even those born in the U.S. shared their frustration with the treatment of immigrants. While her cousins flipped burgers on a grill in Bushwick, Ivanna White said, “Nobody deserves to be homeless, or stranded. […] I’m not for that kind of stuff.” She added, “America, or New York, we have a lot more to offer than other countries. So to be put out [of the country] is kind of unfair, especially because of your race.” She and her cousins had all worked earlier in the day, and more than celebrating the Fourth, she said they just wanted to enjoy the sunny summer weather together.
Bushwick
It was a common sentiment in Bushwick as well, where families and friends gathered in Maria Hernandez Park to watch volleyball, play cards on folding tables, and eat barbecue and slurp on sno-cones. Jennifer Q., who asked not to share her last name, talked about what it’s been like in Ridgewood, which has a large immigrant community. “You don’t know what will happen the next day, or today,” she said, but added that she also feels like neighbors have each other’s backs. For her, the holiday was a chance to be with family. “In this country, we almost work every single day from Monday to Sunday. So if there’s a day where we have a holiday, we try to be together.”
