Jackson Heights Residents React to Trump’s Victory

As the sky over Jackson Heights grows dark on November 9th, residents of 74th street Roosevelt Avenue are making their way to food carts and stands, while protests break out over Bangladeshi politics on the opposite corner. Jackson Heights is known for its south asian and working-class residents. Just four days after election day of 2024, the presidential results were on everyone’s minds. 

On November 6th 2024, the Associated Press projected Donald Trump’s victory after he secured Wisconsin’s electoral votes, putting him at 277 votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win the election. 

Many political issues concern residents of Jackson Heights. For some residents, Trump’s victory represented an opportunity for economic recovery. Habibur Rahman Nahid, a 24-year-old street vendor, thought that the Trump administration would bring down NYC’s high cost of living. “I want the mortgage to go down, I want the insurance to go down,” he says. “The economy, the prices of everything are skyrocketing, and I want everything to be stable again. I think when the economy is better, people will have more money so they will be willing to spend more money”. 

Syed Islam, 24, shares a similar hope. “Taxes are really high and living costs are out of reach for people like us,” he says. “Hopefully, Trump will create more jobs for us and make America great again.” 

Kazi Islam, 55, remains cautiously optimistic. “Now that we’re American citizens, we keep hope that America’s economy will improve,” he said in Bangla, translated to English. “We need job opportunities for our sons who are graduating. Let’s hope Trump will focus on that.”   

Despite hopes for economic stability, many in Jackson Heights feel uneasy about what the future holds for their families. Shahnaz Islam, 50, expresses measured hope as an immigrant. “I hope the new president will be good for us,” she says. “As an immigrant, I want decisions that benefit everyone.”

Others, however, are more worried. Sharmin Jahan, 37, fears that stricter immigration policies will impact her family. “I applied for my brother, but now I’m not sure if he can come to the country anymore because people are saying Trump will stop immigration,” she says, “I feel scared”. 

Monica Wagle and Sonia Ghimie, both 20 years old, voice similar concerns over Trump’s immigration policies, particularly about the status of international students in the U.S. “I hear that Trump won’t allow Indonesian students to get scholarships,” says Ghimie. For immigrant students like herself, educational opportunities remain precarious.

Jessica Young, 40, an immigration attorney, shares a deeply personal and professional concern. Young, who was previously hopeful about Kamala Harris’s leadership, now feels disappointed and fears the new administration will neglect housing and other vital issues in New York City. “I think Trump is going to be a disaster for people who are trying to live their lives here and stay with their families,” she says. “This is a diverse neighborhood, and I’m worried about the rise of racism, misogyny, and discrimination.”

The ongoing ethnic cleansing in Gaza weighs on the minds of Jackson Heights residents.  Republican Nesu Nuruddin, 70, believes Trump’s presidency will steer the country in the right direction. “All the genocide going on has really hurt us. Even the kids, we all want to stop it as soon as possible,” he says. “There’s a technical problem with Congress and the Senate, but Trump will try to do what’s right.”

Rumana Asri, 24, is also concerned about the fate of Palestinians in Gaza, but doesn’t believe that Trump is necessarily a solution. “I don’t feel that either of them should win, they’re both the same: devils. They don’t know how to be a good president,” she says. “There must be a lot of work, not just one or two things. Like stopping the genocide in Palestine first and not funding wars.”

Islam elaborates on his and his family’s optimism regarding the next four years, “We hope Donald Trump will do good, and look towards the country, and bring the country forward. We ask him not to look at political parties, race/color, nationality, that should not concern you. You should concern yourself with everything that needs to be done for our America. We pray that Donald Trump will try to do as much as he possibly can to keep the country good. We’re holding that hope.”