By Rhanor Gillette
“I’m not voting for Kamala!” Corey Johnson, a tourist from Pennsylvania, proudly announced as he walked across the New York City sidewalk. “She’s not pro-life,” he explained, smirking at the idea of voting for the Democratic vice president. But who he would back this November he would not say.
Minutes later, a party of four from Philadelphia were walking the same direction, and were dreading the November decision. Embarrassed to say who they were even leaning towards, a woman in the group said the United States needs “someone who will unite the country and not just talk about uniting the country.”
This sentiment has been echoed across the US as the country grapples with yet another turbulent presidential election season. And though the vast majority of Americans have strong feelings against certain candidates for the office, many are struggling to find one to support.
The race is shaping up as a contest between former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and incumbent vice president Kamala Harris, the Democrat. Mr. Trump, who has been convicted of 34 crimes and was impeached twice during his time in office, remains a prominent political figure despite his re-election loss in 2020. Just days before the Republican National Convention he survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, now a symbol of the deep divisions that he has stoked as a leader.
Ms. Harris, meanwhile, has just inherited the Democratic nomination from current president Joe Biden, who dropped out a week ago after an awkward debate performance led to a firestorm of questions about his age and cognitive ability. Though her candidacy has drawn in more voters than her predecessor, she still has significant hurdles to face about the Biden administration’s messy handling of the border crisis and the war in Gaza.
The two candidates have dreadful approval ratings and are some of the most hated people in the US, leading to the rise of several third party candidates. The one with the most competitive polling is Robert F. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and the iconic former president John F. Kennedy’s nephew, though even he has had his scandals that have turned away voters.
All across the nation, Americans don’t know what to do.
One such hotbed of uncertainty is Jackson Heights, a neighborhood in north Queens. Often considered the most diverse place on Earth, the area is brimming with immigrants from across the world, most notably consisting of Indian, Bangladeshi, Latin American, and Chinese districts.
The community is solidly Democratic, having an overwhelming majority of its residents vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later Joe Biden in 2020. Not to mention that its representative is Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a member of the progressive “Squad” in the House and one of the most left-wing congresswomen.
Yet most of the neighborhood’s residents are shaky on whether they are going to vote for Ms. Harris, who served under an administration they view as failing them.
Rofiquen Hasna, a tax practitioner, is frustrated with the economic struggles Jackson Heights has felt as well as the country’s funding of Israel. Though Ms. Hasna says there’s “something fishy” about the shooting of Mr. Trump, suggesting it was staged, she says he did a better job than Mr. Biden. “He puts his country first,” she says. “I think we should give him another chance.”
66 year-old Pakistani Jawid Shaikh began to cry over the economy, saying he hasn’t seen his family in the 33 years he has been here, and has had to pay steep taxes recently despite a lack of citizenship. “They are supposed to be building this country,” he says, choking back tears as he talks of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. “We are supposed to be one.” A grocer named Dilip Kai Barwa just moved from Bangladesh two months ago, and already says there are “no opportunities here.” For this he blames the president.
A retired firefighter and mattress firm owner in the area says that he has grown very concerned about illegal immigration. He remembers the morning when he found two undocumented migrants dead in front of his store, and another time when he had to conduct First Aid on another who became homeless as inflation rose. He says at first he thought Mr. Trump was a “clown” but was impressed with his presidency, and voted for him in 2020. “If it takes fear to keep a country safe then sign me up,” he says. But his status as a Trump supporter in deeply liberal New York City has led him to fear for his business, which has been around for 7 decades. “You feel a prejudice,” he says sadly. After feeling harassment from Democrats in the area, he chose to enforce a no politics rule among employees, which he says has mostly worked to quell tensions. But he remains exasperated over his inability to express his beliefs. “Don’t be afraid to change your mind,” he grimly advises.
Some seem indifferent towards the candidates. A Bangladeshi video journalist named Shofiqul Islam has spent a year in the United States. He says he’s “fifty percent Trump, fifty percent Kamala Harris.” Mr. Islam thinks the vice president is “a good person,” but also likes Mr. Trump’s charisma. Nahine Monsoor, a 22 year-old educational marketing associate was gravitating towards voting for the ex-president over the incumbent before Mr. Biden stepped down, but now he is excited to see what the vice president has to offer. “I think if she has the right input for the community… ninety percent of us could vote for him.” He’s also vowed to research Kennedy. But though he notes people around him aren’t happy with their choices, he feels “optimistic.”
President Biden is collectively disliked, but some see opportunity in Ms. Harris.
Ikra Tasilm, a 28 year-old Bangladeshi American, disapproves of President Biden due to the influx of illegal immigration and high crime rates, but she says she likes the idea of a woman becoming commander-in-chief. She’s excited to see what Ms. Harris has to say in the upcoming days, saying she wants a “strong” and “vocal” leader. 31-year-old Diya Noor feels similarly. Though she can’t vote, having only moved from New Delhi, India five years ago, she says she’d “pray for someone to be elected from India,” but she doesn’t think a woman can win the presidency. She calls Mr. Biden “unfit” for office and that Mr. Trump is untrustworthy and would make things harder for immigrants, but that Ms. Harris could be a good leader. A 24 year-old Haitian who does filing says she’s “curious” about Ms. Harris.
Aayushree Pradhan, who works at an astrologist office and is 23, can’t vote, but is very interested in US politics. Though initially she was interested in the Kennedy campaign, she grew disillusioned with his more extreme policies. She has stated that she intended to vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party, but due to her polling numbers, which regularly fluctuate between 1% and 3%, she is now gravitating towards Ms. Harris. She says the vice president “reminds me of Obama,” who she was a big fan of. A second Trump presidency, on the other hand, would be a “scary” prospect, mostly due to his comments at a Christian focused rally that they’d “never have to vote again.”
Easily the most enthusiastic resident was Sayed Alam, a Bangladeshi American in his forties who recently began working for People United For Progress: Political Rights For Ethnic Communities (UPUSA), an activist group and non-profit. Mr. Alam has worked closely with many Democratic leaders, including Representative Cortez, who he says “has that grace” to become the president. He is committed to voting Ms. Harris, though he has skirted aside any ideas that he is inclined to vote for her solely due to the historic nomination of a South Asian candidate. “I will vote for her because she is highly capable for this position,” he says while grinning. On President Biden, he says: “He did his job, but what about the young chaps!?”
Though a proud Democrat, Mr. Alam has grown frustrated with those in his party who have used divisive rhetoric to stir reactions. He says that Mr. Trump is not a threat to democracy, unlike the vice president and her allies are pushing, saying that “the Constitution is too strong” to allow for a dictator. He has meanwhile grown disgusted with the shooting of the ex-president, as well the other bouts of political violence that dominate the headlines. “We all come from God,” he says with vigor. “We can have some difference, but we cannot hate each other! We cannot kill each other!”
And though Mr. Alam sees a way forward for the nation he loves through the ties that bind us all, many in Jackson Heights, and the nation for that matter, only see a path of uncertainty and guaranteed doom.
Rhanor Gillette lives in Livermore, CA and serves as the Chief Political Analyst for the Opinion.
