On January 3, 2021, members of the 117th Congress were sworn into office. I’m from New York’s 11th congressional district; the most conservative district in New York City; the only swing district in New York City; now, the only Republican district in New York City. How wonderful! I’m ecstatic! To be a progressive Democrat, being represented by Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis definitely takes the cake.
A bit of history before we delve any deeper: In 2013, my congressional district was redrawn to cover the entire Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. From 2013 to 2018, my representative has been Republican until 2019, when former Congressman Max Rose was sworn into office.
In 2020, I voted for the first time at the age of 20, against President Donald Trump’s reelection and for Congressman Max Rose’s reelection. However, when the election results delivered the moment of truth, I was heartbroken to learn Congressman Max Rose lost the election to Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis. A contributing factor was because he participated in a Black Lives Matter protest in Staten Island. To me, it reveals strength and dignity, but other constituents believed it showed his support for defunding the police despite him never voting to do so.
Do you notice the commonality between the two images? Both advocate for the politicized identity, daughter of immigrants, and this is where identity politics becomes blurry. The question then becomes, does she support more progressive immigration and women’s rights policies? No, and she proudly lets us know! I can’t paraphrase her words better myself, so enjoy the ride—it’s a rollercoaster!
Abortion (Source: Brooklyn Paper)
“I don’t think this is a black-and-white issue. I think it’s very personal to people. I would consider myself pro-life, my voting record is as such.”
— Nicole Malliotakis“I ardently believe that a woman should have the right to make decisions about her own reproductive health and about her body, with the consultation of a doctor of course, but she has the abject 100-percent right to make those decisions.”
— Max Rose
Immigration (Source: Nicole Malliotakis for Congress)
“Nicole strongly supports strengthening our border security to help stem the tide of illegal immigration, as well as increased investment in U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.
Unlike Rep. Max Rose, Nicole opposed the passage of H.R. 6, which would have provided amnesty to more than two million immigrants in the United States illegally and its provisions prohibiting immigration officials from using state and federal gang databases to prevent gang members from accessing this program.
In the New York State Assembly, Nicole has vocally opposed sanctuary city policies and laws providing state tuition assistance and drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. While Nicole successfully led the effort to block legislation allowing illegal immigrants to register to vote in New York State, Rose [supported] liberal cities like New York and San Francisco [to] allow illegal immigrants to vote in municipal elections.
Nicole also sued New York City to prevent the destruction of background documents and other records associated with the IDNYC program, which provides New York City-issued identification cards to undocumented immigrants.”
Notice the phrases “illegal immigrants” and “gang members.” Can you think of another individual who also uses these categorizations to dehumanize Hispanic and Latino undocumented immigrants? The occupant in the White House. The icing on the cake? Malliotakis was endorsed by Trump himself, the very man that won the majority of constituents in Staten Island, and thus my district. Simply put, she has exploited her politicized identity to appeal to individuals from marginalized groups whilst becoming a voice for white supremacy.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to disrupt the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Yet, a few hours later, Congresswoman Malliotakis became one of the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Arizona and/or Pennsylvania election results. Both of these states voted from Trump back in 2016, but flipped to blue in 2020 for Biden. The reason why? In Arizona, grassroots organizations and activists poured blood, sweat, and tears to mobilize Latino voters. By rejecting the certification of the electoral votes, she is actively launching a counter-attack against her own community, against all of the Latino voters and immigrants who came out to vote.
In response, local elected officials and protesters rallied outside her district offices in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and Bulls Head, Staten Island, on January 9, 2021.
Let’s get this straight. A Member of Congress is elected to represent a particular constituency. So imagine my surprise (or lack thereof, honestly) when I found out on January 13, 2021, exactly one week after the attack on our democracy, that she voted against Trump’s impeachment for incitement of insurrection. It is at pivotal decisions like these, where identity politics can become dangerous. As constituents, we cannot afford to vote for candidates that merely share the same social groups as us. Instead, we must learn to be more conscious of how their political positions will affect us.
So, let me ask you: As a first-generation Chinese American woman, would you rather vote for Nicole Malliotakis, the daughter of immigrants, or Max Rose, the Jewish veteran?
To further decolonize our minds:
Brooklyn Paper | Max Rose and Nicole Malliotakis Interview
TikTok | Staten Island Voting for Trump (Video)
Fox News | Nicole Malliotakis Forming an 'Anti-Socialist Squad'
Staten Island Advance| AOC Calls Out Malliotakis on Twitter
Kings County Politics | Dem Electeds Call on Malliotakis to Resign
Malliotakis | My Objective Was Not to Overturn the Election
Twitter Thread | Malliotakis Explains Her Vote to Overturn Election Results
C-SPAN | New York 11th Congressional District Debate
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