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‘They took our vote for granted’: immigrants abandon Kamala Harris in New York

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‘They took our vote for granted’: immigrants abandon Kamala Harris in New York

Yahay Obeid, who arrived in the US from Yemen aged 8, trained as a pilot, and now controls air traffic at JFK airport, is more than just a model American immigrant.

At the height of the first administration of Donald Trump, he was held up in a speech by his Democratic representative, the Bronx’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as a victim of the “Muslim ban”, the government shutdown, and the “anti-immigration sentiment” flowing from the White House.

But on Tuesday, Obeid and probably thousands of fellow members of the Muslim community in the Bronx — which contains both the poorest and bluest Congressional districts in the US — voted for Trump, as did many of the area’s Hispanic and Latino inhabitants.

“What we have done right now is hold the Democrats accountable,” said Obeid of the borough’s 65,000 new Trump voters, who the Republican candidate targeted with a pledge to fight inflation and illegal immigration. “They have taken our vote for granted.”

In a swing that shook the Democratic establishment in New York City, Kamala Harris won just 73 per cent of the vote in the Bronx — 10 percentage points lower than Joe Biden achieved in 2020. Voting patterns across the borough, where more than 70 per cent of registered voters are Democrats, suggest the party shed support among communities that once formed its core base.

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Yahay Obeid voted both for Trump, a Republican, and for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat © Karen Dias
A poster of Ibrahim al-Hamdi, Yemen’s third president, on a street named after him in Little Yemen in the Bronx, New York
A poster of former president of Yemen Ibrahim al-Hamdi on a street named after him in Little Yemen in the Bronx © Karen Dias

For many in the Bronx, which has the worst public health record in the state, the calculation was, “how much worse can it get?”, said former firefighter Mike Rendino, chair of the Bronx Republican party. “At some point they realised Democratic policies no longer worked.”

Rubén Díaz Sr, a former state senator and registered Democrat who introduced Trump at a rally in Crotona Park in May and spent the past few weeks driving around the Bronx in a truck campaigning for the Republicans, said the backlash against his own party was long coming.

“We Hispanics, we are not liberal, we are conservatives”, the ordained minister said. Even among a community of first and second generation immigrants, illegal migration “was one of the main issues”, he added.

Rubén Díaz Sr stands outside his home in the Bronx
Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr outside his home in the Bronx © Karen Dias

Díaz said there was anger at measures such as the debit cards handed out by the city administration to migrant families to purchase food.

While the Bronx, which has been governed by Democrats for decades, suffers from high rates of homicide and violent crime, the Republican stronghold of Staten Island “has the better security, the better street cleaning, the better services”, Diaz added.

Even before Trump’s re-election bid, a slight shift towards the Republicans was in the offing. Last year, the Bronx voted in its first Republican on the city council in 40 years.

Although the Republican party itself did not spend money campaigning in the Bronx, Trump sought to capitalise on his growing support in the borough, visiting once for his rally, and once to film a Fox & Friends segment in a local barbershop, during which he told patrons: “You guys are the same as me.” He was the first Republican presidential candidate to campaign in the Bronx since Ronald Reagan, who went on to win New York.

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Sammy Ravelo
Sammy Ravelo, a retired police officer, at a diner in the Bronx © Karen Dias

Conversely, Harris and the Democrats forgot that people in the Bronx were “just like any other any regular American”, according to Sammy Ravelo, who came to America from the Dominican Republic in his teens and went on to serve in the US Army and as a New York police officer. “They know their pocketbook, how much they are paying for eggs.”

A local Democratic politician’s exhortation that Trump would imperil social security payments was taken as an insult by some, Ravelo added, for the implication that their community was reliant on government handouts. “The Dominican community is not a monolith,” he said.

Far from being put off by Trump’s pledge to implement mass deportations of illegal immigrants, a small but growing number of Dominicans welcomed the tough stance, Ravelo claimed. “You know who wants mass deportation most?” Ravelo, who was one of the first responders during the September 11 attacks, asked. “Legal migrants.”

A shopkeeper in the Morris Park neighbourhood of the Bronx, who asked not to be named, said she had agreed with Republicans on cultural issues such as their opposition to “Proposition 1”, a proposed amendment to New York’s constitution that conservatives claimed would allow transgender children to play on girls’ sports teams, which passed on Tuesday night.

A sign saying ‘Protect Girls Sports Vote No Prop 1’ on a street in the Bronx
An election sign stating ‘Protect Girls’ Sports’ on a street in the Bronx © Karen Dias
Street view of the Bronx showing pedestrians, a man sitting on the pavement outside a fast-food restaurant, and a police car waiting in traffic
Harris’s share of the vote in the Bronx was 10 percentage points lower than Biden’s in 2020 © Karen Dias

Trump’s courting of the Bronx vote had its hiccups. At an October rally in Manhattan, a comedian sparked outrage by referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating pile of garbage”.

“Trump should have fired whoever allowed that person to go on,” said the Republican party’s Rendino, who thought that he lost significant support in the borough as a result.

But attempts by Democrats to talk up the threat posed by Trump to democracy itself increasingly fell on deaf ears, said Obeid, especially among his Yemeni community, whose elders strongly endorsed the Republican candidate just days before the election.

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“We grew up in dictatorships, you can’t fool us by calling someone who is outspoken a dictator,” he said. Instead, with what he saw as a tacit endorsement of the “genocide” unfolding in Gaza, “we felt the world would end under Biden”.

In response to Trump’s win, the Bronx’s Democratic congressman Ritchie Torres blamed “the far left”, adding that the working class was “not buying [their] ivory-towered nonsense”.

That was not true for Obeid. On Tuesday, while voting for Trump, he also chose to re-elect Ocasio-Cortez, one of the few senior New York City politicians to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

Case 3:18-cv-02862-M Document 256 Filed 11/20/24
Page 3 of 7 PageID 7099
3. Question 3: Compensatory Damages
What sum of money, if any, would compensate Plaintiffs for injuries they suffered as a result of
Defendant’s conduct?
Claims of Estate of Botham Jean
(a) Mental anguish experienced by Botham Jean
between the time he was shot and his death:
$
2,000,000
(b) Loss of net future earnings by Botham Jean:
$
5,500,000
(c) Loss of Botham Jean’s capacity to enjoy life:
2,750,000
Claims of Allison and Bertrum Jean
(a) The value of the loss of companionship and society
sustained from September 6, 2018, to today
to Allison Jean:
(b) The value of the loss of companionship and society
that, in reasonable probability, will be sustained from
today forward
to Allison Jean:
(c) The value of the mental anguish sustained from
September 6, 2018, to today
500,000
2,000,000
to Allison Jean:
(d) The value of the mental anguish that, in reasonable
probability, will be sustained from today forward
to Allison Jean:
3
$
6,000,000
5,700,000

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Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for first time

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Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for first time

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Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, following days of escalation in the conflict.

Ukrainian air defence forces said the missile, which did not carry a nuclear warhead, was fired alongside seven Kh-101 cruise missiles at the southern city of Dnipro.

The use of the ICBM comes after Ukraine launched US-made long-range Atacms missiles and British Storm Shadows at Russian territory in recent days.

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Responding to the Atacms strikes, Russia altered its nuclear doctrine to lower its threshold for first use. ICBMs are designed to carry nuclear warheads across continents, by contrast with so-called short- and medium-range missiles.

Their range of thousands of miles is far greater than that of missiles such as Atacms and Storm Shadows, which can travel 250km to 300km.

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Russia has previously used nuclear-capable missiles to hit Ukraine, albeit with shorter ranges. Russian forces have repeatedly fired ground-launched Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and the air-launched hypersonic Kinzhal missile, both of which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Ukraine said it had intercepted six of the Russian missiles. It added that the ICBM had been launched from Russia’s southern Astrakhan region. It did not specify what kind of ICBM had been used.

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Two people were injured in the attack, according to local authorities.

This is a developing story

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Sarah McBride: Republican speaker backs proposal to ban transgender women from women's restrooms in US Congress, Sarah McBride responds | World News – Times of India

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Sarah McBride: Republican speaker backs proposal to ban transgender women from women's restrooms in US Congress, Sarah McBride responds | World News – Times of India

After House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated support for Republic proposal preventing Trans Congresswoman elected from Delaware Sarah McBride from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol , McBride said that she will use the men’s restroom on Capitol Hill. In her statement, she said that she is not here to fight about bathrooms but to fight for Delawareans.
She added, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

She further said, “This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days, as I’ve remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January.”
She stated, “Serving in the 119th Congress will be the honor of a lifetime and I continue to look forward to getting to know my future colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Each of us were sent here because voters saw something in us that they value. I have loved getting to see those qualities in the future colleagues that I’ve met and I look forward to seeing those qualities in every member come January. I hope all of my colleagues will seek to do the same with me.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated support on Tuesday for a Republican proposal to prevent Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender woman elected to Congress, from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol. This restriction would take effect when McBride assumes office next year.
“We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.”
The proposal, introduced by Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, aims to prohibit lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace confirmed that the bill specifically targets McBride, who recently won the election in Delaware.
Democrats, including McBride, criticized the Republican initiative, labeling it as “bullying” and a “distraction.”
“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride said. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”
The debate surrounding bathroom access for transgender individuals has gained significant traction nationwide and was a key point in President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. Currently, at least 11 states have enacted legislation barring transgender girls and women from using female restrooms in public schools and, in certain instances, other government facilities.
Despite potential challenges, Mace expressed her determination to proceed. “If it’s not,” she said. “I’ll be ready to pick up the mantle.”

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