Let’s be clear about what those words really mean. In the cold reality of law and policy, this “path to recognition" for immigrants, leads nowhere. It is an empty promise. A political mirage designed to sound compassionate while offering no real solution to the hardworking immigrants who are the backbone of our economy and our communities.

Jack Ciattarelli needs to open his eyes and see the New Jersey we all live in. Immigrants are not “them,” they are us. The immigrant is the nurse that cares for your elderly parents; the construction worker that helps build your home; the cleaning person who cleans your building; the entrepreneur that repairs your car or owns your favorite restaurant. And yes, some of those immigrants are undocumented, yet they are our neighbors, our co-workers, our fellow church goers. Their children sit next to ours in class, they cheer for the same team on Friday nights  and are friends with our own children.

The data proves they are woven into the very fabric of our state's strength: New Jersey is home to over 2.3 million immigrants. According to the American Immigration Council, about 475,000 are undocumented. But here is the truth Ciattarelli ignores:

According to the American Immigration Council immigrants make up 30.1% of the labour force, and undocumented workers account for 5.7% of all workers in the state, Immigrant households generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity, and undocumented workers alone in the U.S. paid an estimated $21.5 billion in federal taxes and $13.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2022.

Here in New Jersey, undocumented immigrants contributed $1.3 billion in state and local taxes — despite being among the most excluded and unprotected members of the workforce. The New Jersey office for New Americans in their annual report showed that working age undocumented immigrants start businesses at a higher rate than Americans, estimating that approximately 25,000 small businesses in NJ are owned by an undocumented immigrant. These numbers reveal an undeniable truth: Latinos and immigrants don’t just survive here — they sustain our economy, power our public services, and shoulder the cost of government services they are barred from accessing.

Immigrants to NJ come from all over the world, including Europe. However, the majority of the undocumented are indeed from Mexico, Central America and India revealing the complicated relationship between the need for workers in the low wage industries (construction and service jobs where Latinos are segmented) and the high-tech industry where our Indian American community thrives. Nevertheless, according to the Latino Donors Collaborative, Latino immigrants contribute $4 trillion dollars to our national economy. Latino entrepreneurs are producers of goods and economic output at a level of $4 trillion, and they are also the youngest workforce keeping the US economy thriving; in NJ alone, 20% of the active labor workforce is Latino. According to the NJPP, the forced removal of the undocumented from NJ as supported by Jack Ciatarelly, would cause the loss of $25.9 billion in economic activity and the elimination of 5.3% of capital from the NJ financial sector. This is an economic policy NJ cannot afford.

But this failure to see people for who they are and  contribute is a pattern for Jack Ciatarelli. When asked to address the importance of Black and Latino voters, Mr. Ciattarelli dismissed the question saying “Am I speaking to a Black and Hispanic? I thought I was speaking to New Jerseyans,” in a forum with the NJ African American Chamber of Commerce and the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. That wasn’t unity. That was an erasure; it was a refusal to recognize the unique experiences, contributions, and leadership of communities of color. True recognition means you are valued for all of who you are.

In another interview, Jack Ciatarelli endorsed one of Donald Trump’s most radical proposals: ending birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants born in the US . This isn't just a policy shift; it is a direct assault on the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and a conscious decision to create a permanent underclass of people born on American soil. This is the same constitutional provision that allowed Ciatarelli’s ancestors to become American in one generation; now just like Trump, he wants to deny this same right to Black and Latino immigrants and our descendants.

Let’s be unequivocally clear: until Jack Ciattarelli publicly renounces Donald Trump’s inhumane deportation policy of terrorizing our Latino immigrant communities, his words are not just political platitudes; they are a betrayal to all immigrants and the millions of NJ citizens who depend on the labor and entrepreneurial spirit of our immigrant neighbors.

Our demand is simple: We don’t need a “path to recognition.” We need a path to legalization, permanent residency, and to citizenship for all hard working immigrants.

We need leaders with the courage to recognize what is already in front of them; the humanity of immigrants and their immense contributions to NJ’s economy.

Latinos and all immigrants, drive this state forward—culturally, economically, and socially. A New Jersey that truly sees its people, that’s the New Jersey worth fighting for. And that’s the NJ this immigrant Jersey Girl is proud to call home.

Patricia Campos-Medina is a labor and immigrant rights leader. She serves as a Vice-Chair for Mikie Sherill for the Governor Campaign. You can follow her on all social media platforms @DrCamposMedina