whereRU: Aresty Poster 189- Politics of New Jersey Post-9/11 by Aresty Posters 2009

Politics of New Jersey Post-9/11: Do We Really Want the Immigrants

Immediately following the events of September 11th was an epidemic of foreign terror. This ambiance of fear created a domino effect that started with national pride and has ended with a very distinct picture of who can and cannot claim the United States as their own. At the crux of this conflict is New Jersey , the known location of pre and post 9/11 terrorist activities and the historical recipient of large and varied immigrant communities. For this reason we set out to document the struggle over the politics of immigration in New Jersey. We speculated that more explicit discriminatory practices and policies would be administered after 9/11. Our strategy incorporated both archival and qualitative methods, including the assessment of public hearing transcriptions, examination of recent books and scholarly journals, the review of local and state newspaper articles, thorough analysis of relevant policies, interviews, and ethnography work. We found that since 9/11, tensions among mainstream America and specific ethnic groups, as well as interethnic conflict, have swelled. The local policing of legal status, more stringent policies in regards to the excommunication and regulation of certain immigrant groups, the gentrification and urban renewal of ethnic minority communities, and an overt devaluation for diversity among community members, supports the idea that there is a widespread interest to change the racial make-up of New Jersey; the ?undesirable? ethnic groups, mainly Muslims, Arabs, and Latinos, that already work, live and study in New Jersey or want to, have vulnerable, indefinite futures.

For more information contact
Samantha Galarza at 551-208-0828 or sgalarza@eden.rutgers.edu