Caribbean advocates, union hail US Democratic midterm sweep

NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean immigration advocates and a major healthcare workers’ union have welcomed the Democratic Party’s sweeping gains in the United States midterm elections, which have given the party control of both houses of Congress in a major setback for President Donald Trump.

“Voters today sent a clear message: we need a government that is responsive to the needs of immigrants, working-class families, our trans and gender-expansive loved ones, young people, women, and Black and brown communities,” said Natalia Aristizabal, co-executive director of Make the Road New York (MRNY), an immigrant advocacy group, on Tuesday.

“In New York, there is a mandate for progressive policies that make tangible differences in people’s lives,” she added. “We will continue to work with our elected officials in Albany to deliver real solutions for our communities.

“In order to have a state that works for everyone, we have to invest in childcare, healthcare, schools, and housing by ensuring that the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share in taxes,” Aristizabal continued.

“We must expand protections for immigrant New Yorkers so that they never have to fear that their loved ones may be abducted on their way to work.”

Aristizabal said MRNY members had been actively involved in the election campaign, knocking on doors, training election protection volunteers and monitoring polling stations.

“We knocked on nearly 10,000 doors, trained hundreds of people in election protection, and monitored poll sites on Long Island,” she said. “Now we are ready to take to the streets on November 7 in Manhattan to ensure that all votes are counted, and the winners are seated.”

She said the organisation would continue monitoring the vote-counting process and demand that elected officials respect the results.

“We will continue to monitor the vote-counting process and demand that those in power obey the will of the people,” Aristizabal said.

Meanwhile, Yvonne Armstrong, president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the nation’s largest healthcare union, described the Democratic victory as “a win for working people”.

She said union members had volunteered “countless hours” campaigning in key congressional districts in New York, New Jersey and along the East Coast.

“The stakes of this year’s elections are personal for the frontline healthcare workers of 1199SEIU,” Armstrong said.

She said funding cuts and “political stunts” by the Trump administration had affected union members working in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and home care programmes, which provide services to the sick, the elderly and people living with disabilities.

Armstrong accused the administration of pursuing policies that benefited billionaires at the expense of working families.

“We saw our patients losing insurance and our facilities threatened with closure,” she said. “Temporary Protected Status (for Haitians) was cruelly ripped away from our colleagues, while ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents stormed into our communities, terrorising our neighbours and our loved ones.

“That’s why we organised and turned out to elect leaders who share our vision of a better future – one where every family can access affordable care, our loved ones can age with dignity, and healthcare workers like us can survive and thrive no matter where we come from,” she added.

“Together, we rejected a government driven by greed rather than the needs of working families.”

Armstrong said the election victory was only the beginning, adding that the union expected the incoming leaders to protect Medicaid, expand access to quality healthcare, restore immigrant protections and defend workers’ right to organise.

“1199SEIU members will keep organising and will hold every leader accountable to all working people,” she said.

Democrats also made gains in traditionally Republican states, securing victories in races for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Among those re-elected was Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose New York congressional district includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens and has a significant Caribbean-American population.

“We’re going to fight to make sure that we make this country affordable for every single American,” Jeffries told jubilant supporters on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C.

“This is a change election,” said Jeffries, who is expected to become the first Black Speaker of the US House of Representatives. “And we understand as House Democrats we need to deliver dramatic change.

“Things are broken. We need a Congress that puts the American people first,” he added.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.