In the heart of downtown Elizabeth, progressive advocacy organization Make the Road Action, whose mission is to build political power in working-class Latinx communities and to promote policy solutions to improve the lives of all working-class and low-income people, announced the launch of a massive voter engagement campaign and federal platform ahead of the upcoming New Jersey primary elections on June 4th.

Candidates from both sides of the aisle have been using inflammatory and hateful narratives attacking immigrants, and further dividing the country. With Senator Menendez off the ticket, the stakes for this election are extremely high. The campaign will reach more than 100,000 new citizens and Latinx voters via door to door engagement across New Jersey, phone and text banks, and digital ads. In addition, Make the Road Action will call on candidates running for office to support the platform and publicly commit to fight against xenophobia and to support New Jersey’s more than 2 million immigrants who call the state home by delivering humane, people-centered immigration solutions.

“As a new voter, I’m knocking on doors with Make the Road Action NJ this spring because I stand with the millions of immigrant families, DACA recipients, immigrant students, and newly arrived refugees that call New Jersey home. Voters deserve elected officials who will advance our freedom, our safety and the well being of our families. We’re calling on candidates in Congress to stand up for a pathway to citizenship, update the registry, preserve and strengthen the right to asylum to help 8 million people who have the courage & tenacity to move for a better life to find safety & security, end ICE’s abuses, stop the exploitation of immigrant workers and the school to deportation pipeline, and push for housing justice,” said Amanda Chacon, a newly naturalized voter from Perth Amboy.

New Jersey is a state of immigrants. Almost a quarter of all New Jerseyans are immigrants. More than 2 million immigrants call New Jersey home, a number which is more than the population of the entire state of New Mexico or Nebraska.  53% of immigrants – over 1 million people – in New Jersey are naturalized U.S. citizens —meaning that they are eligible to vote.  Immigrants and the children of immigrants account for almost 20 percent of New Jersey’s electorate.

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Make the Road Action New Jersey builds political power rooted in immigrant and working-class communities, promotes progressive policy solutions, and strengthens the movement for justice through electoral and grassroots organizing. On Twitter: @MakeRoadActNJ