Cautious hope emerges among Alexandria voters Ocasio-Cortez

NEW YORK – Molly Roth was proud to settle in a neighborhood she considered a true America. While she was walking the main streets of this enclave of Queens, which has 170,000 residents, she heard conversations in languages ​​that she did not know. She passed by convenience stores selling fruit she had never seen. And now, she was sitting at Arepa Lady, a restaurant specializing in sweet Colombian corn cakes, biting into dishes she had never eaten before.

Roth then noticed another thing he liked in the neighborhood.

"I have to vote for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," she said.

"Are you in his district? Asked a friend. "It's really cool."

A cautious hope is reborn in this part of America, resulting from the most American traditions: the vote. Residents who demanded changes in the 14th congressional district overthrew a 56-year-old white Democrat, one of Washington's most powerful men, and replaced him with a 29-year-old Latina socialist who was bartender.

But they did not stop there. They elected a former undocumented immigrant to the state assembly and replaced another longtime politician in the state senate. The old political guard had been overthrown. Three Latinas of left without any experience of government then succeeded to the will of their district to change radically of policy.

People pass by the corner of 74th Street and 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, New York State. It is considered one of the most diverse communities in the United States, with more than 160 languages ​​spoken. (Timothy Fadek / For The Washington Post)

Even though none of them has much power in the traditional sense, their victories have left many residents feeling that their Life had just been injected into the American consciousness, alongside rural voters and white conservatives who rejoiced in it. The rise of Trump had done the same for them.

Roth's next congressman was now sitting with Stephen Colbert and spreading the gospel of the urban working class to an audience from across the country. Roth said that she liked her liberal lifestyle and that she felt a little in full expansion. If it was not expanding, at least the outer shell was thick enough to protect the other America.

"They say we live in a bubble, but I like my bubble," said Roth, a 30-year-old graphic designer. artist who grew up outside Detroit. "There are two different realities in America, and part of the country lives in an unfathomable way for me."

For Osorio, the idea of ​​feeling misunderstood extended to his outgoing MP, Joseph Crowley. Osorio had always heard that Crowley was a "powerful actor" in Washington, but he had no idea what that meant or why it might have been relevant to his life.

In his world, life was just going on – no matter who the President was or how much Crowley was loved in the nation's capital. According to Mr. Osorio, in Jackson Heights, locals are simply dealing with all the decisions made by Washington. The victory of Ocasio-Cortez gave him hope that his version of America could become a part of the national conversation.

When Osorio settled here in the late 1980s, his family was like most families – news in the country, not fluent in the language. . Since then, these families have learned English, acquired citizenship and sent their children to schools where they learned the importance of civic engagement.

This new generation no longer wanted to have the impression of being away from American politics – it wanted I believe that they also have the ability to make things happen.

"They say that looking at your phone is a bad thing, but I'm learning a lot of what neighborhood kids are talking about," Osorio said. I said. "That's how I learned Ocasio-Cortez. That's how I discovered intersectional feminism. "

Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Republican Anthony Pappas in the November general election, spoke of the minimum wage and the health care guarantee, as well as the difficulty of working at odd hours for service jobs, which made sense. in Osorio. It looked like "real New York, not the one you see on TV and it's just white people," Osorio said. "She created a buzz here, just because we felt she knew our story."

Gus Santana, the son of 31-year-old immigrants from the Dominican Republic, did not imagine that he was afraid of being a Latin American worker. The people in the class were very different from working-class whites: he was afraid of going bankrupt when he got sick, felt safe in his neighborhood, his parents did not lose their social security checks. or those around him, were the image of the American who worked every day. Ocasio-Cortez could change this way of thinking, he hoped.

"The best thing she can teach people is that the voice of downtown counts," Santana said.

Santana recently graduated from a local manager. He was working in the home appliance store of a family member while he was waiting for news from the human resource companies in which he wanted to work.

"My parents have already realized their American dream: come here, start a family and be able to plan for them," Santana said. "I guess my American dream is different because I grew up here. you grow up in this country, you are told to have a fence, a garden and a backyard. "

The polarization in this country had nevertheless diminished his desire to to realize the American dream he had known before.

Outside of his bubble, Santana wondered why so many people around him were scared. Why being afraid of losing a way of life, wondered Most people around him were born abroad and had already lost their way of life.Why be afraid to quit his job and learn a new skill? Many parents of his friends were professionals from other countries and had instead chosen to n America

Santana hoped that her voice and popularity for Ocasio-Cortez could pave the way for a broader reflection on the American ideal. He did not want to leave city life to feel like a precious part of the country.

"It's a shame that you left New York to have that kind of American dream," he said, "as if you had to go to North Carolina or something like that. I'm supposed to want to, but living in a place like this seems to me a little mundane. "

The Diversity Plaza, heart of the multicultural ethos of the district, is an open-air festival venue enlivened by a host of restaurants and shops mostly Southeast Asian.One last weekend, on the ground floor of a Pakistani restaurant, a group majority white residents gathered in a workshop repair of computers. They met to determine what they could do to thwart what they considered to be the most immediate threat to pierce their bubble: the suppression of illegal immigration.

"We are pleased to welcome you," Agha Saleh, owner of a computer repair shop, told members of the Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network.

The group talked about distributing fliers to discuss some of the recent tactics used by immigration officers to identify undocumented migrants in the neighborhood, they thought they would need to print fact sheets in Spanish, Bengali, Urdu , in Nepalese, in Punjuabi and elsewhere

"We have our own problems, people worry about gentrification and everything else, but everything crystallizes the issue of immigration," said David Stock , 67 years old

They then discussed the participation in an immigration forum during the New Year and a member of the group started to consult the list of guests, among them Jessica Ramos, their not New Senator and Catalina Cruz, the undocumented immigrant they elected to the State Assembly.

"And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, if she can do it," she said.

The group smiled and nodded. Crowley had argued for legislation requiring immigration and customs officers to file a report each time they arrested someone, rather than whenever they were proceeding. to an arrest. Ocasio-Cortez's efforts to abolish the Immigration and Customs Control Agency seemed more resonant and radical.

"She just gives us a little more hope," Stock said after the meeting.

"Not too much hope because after the 2016 elections, I'm no longer sure to understand the country," said a woman, who requested anonymity because she did not did not want to compromise the renewal of her husband's green card. "You never know with politics."

"At least she will fight," said another participant.

Saleh walked past his restaurant to light a cigarette. Around him, a man with a cart was working 12-hour shifts selling shish kebabs and families were preparing to buy saris in Little India stores. He looked up at the tower under construction, casting a new shadow over his restaurant. The change, he said, will certainly happen here, as the train continues to growl. They hoped that Ocasio-Cortez would help direct it.

"Whenever she speaks, you feel the vibrations of change," Saleh said. "But she has to do the work. It's a neighborhood of working people. They respect the work. They do not take a vacation. If she does not do the job, she will not be re-elected. She will look like Crowley.