U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks hosted a local media roundtable on Monday, Aug. 5 in downtown Jamaica. Meeks, who presides over the neighborhoods encompassing The Rockaways, Broad Channel, Cambria Heights, Hollis, Laurelton, South Jamaica and St. Albans, spoke on his re-election campaign, his support of Vice President Kamala Harris for president, the migrant crisis and other important local and national issues.
On Campaigning and VP Kamala Harris
Rep. Meeks told QNS he has dual responsibilities on his campaign trail in the upcoming months. Meeks said that he will focus on speaking to voters in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina to deliver the message as to why VP Harris should be the next president of the United States. “With Vice President Harris, we’re talking about the torch being passed. She represents the next generation of leadership. She has a vision for America that I think is important,” he said.
Meeks said he has not seen the level of excitement for VP Harris’s candidacy since former President Barack Obama’s first run for president in 2008. He believes that VP Harris has a strong track record during her time as vice president, including her strong relationship with international allies, job creation, healthcare and affordable wages.
Meeks had some pointed remarks for Harris’ challenger, former President Donald Trump. “You think about the character of this guy. Just about every popular Republican, they know who he is, because if you listen to what they said about his character beforehand, go back to 2016, whether it was Lindsey Graham, whether it was Ted Cruz, whether it was Marco Rubio, they all said he was a con man, he was a crook, he was a liar,” Meeks said. “Even the person he chose as his current running mate has said that he was America’s Hitler,” Meeks said, referring to Trump’s VP pick, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who made the pointed reference to Trump in 2016.
Meeks also serves as the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Committee, and he says he is focused on winning the majority of the House. “There are 27 seats that we believe we can flip from red to blue; in addition, there are two that we believe that we can protect, members who are in close districts of what we call front liners.” He said he is also working to campaign for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives. He noted that he will head to Distirct 4, District 17 in Hudson Valley, District 19 in the Catskills, District 22 in Syracuse and District 1 to support New York-based Democratic congressional candidates running for office.
For his re-election on the local level, he said he is focused on speaking to civic groups and block associations to hear their concerns. He also shared that he is working with Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers to bring resources for a new trauma center in Far Rockaway.
On the war in Gaza
Rep. Meeks spoke briefly on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, condemning the Hamas attack on Oct 7. “Hamas is a terrorist organization and its leadership needs to be held accountable. The United States has stood with and will continue to stand with friends and allies in the Middle East, and give them what they need to defend themselves,” he said. Meeks added that there is a need for a ceasefire in Gaza, which would also ease tensions in the Middle East, including the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Meeks said he had the opportunity to speak to some of the family members of Israeli hostages during Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July visit to Congress. “They all said they want a ceasefire to allow the hostages to return home,” he said.
On the Migrant Crisis
Rep. Meeks said it is up to Congress to come up with comprehensive immigration reform to tackle the migrant crisis at the southern border and in New York City. “Congress has to act. We have not had a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed since Ronald Reagan,” he said. Meeks felt that Donald Trump’s influence on Republican lawmakers was partially to blame for an immigration reform bill not passing this congressional session. Meeks said that his trips to the border in Arizona and Texas in February highlighted domestic issues that need to be addressed on the pathway to immigration reform. He noted that people seeking asylum, specifically from countries like Venezuela, have cases backed up for years due to court shortages of judges and other legal personnel.
Meeks said that current border policies need to be changed and that more policies should be introduced to evaluate asylum claims at the border. Additionally, he had differing points of view about how Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs were handling the crisis at the border. Meeks was critical of Gov. Abbott for busing asylum seekers to New York and other sanctuary cities, saying that he “simply wants to play politics.”
“He doesn’t care where or if the migrants are seeking to go someplace else because a lot of them have family members [in other states]. That doesn’t mean anything to him.” Meeks said. “[Abbott] sends them to New York, where he knows buses will land in the middle of the night, and he doesn’t notify anybody in New York that they’re coming.” Meeks said that Abbott’s tactics have caused “havoc” in major cities, including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles.
Meeks praised Gov. Hobbs’ handling of migrants at the Arizona border. He said that he was told that 90% of asylum seekers in Arizona were sent to a family member, per their requests. “It was a whole different circumstance. I saw a humane treatment happening there. When they had to send them to wherever, whatever city it was, they notified the individuals in those cities that X amount of people are coming on X date,” he said.
On the Surrogate Court and Civil Court
Rep. Meeks spoke briefly on his support for Judge Cassandra Johnson, who won the Democratic primary election against Judge Wendy Li in June. “The reason why we supported Cassandra Johnson is because she’s the best person to be that judge. This is the most diverse borough in all of the United States of America, and Cassandra Johnson represents the first woman and the first African American surrogate judge in the history of Queens County,” he said. Judge Johnson is set to face off against Republican nominee Stephen Weiner in the general election in November.
Meeks also shared his support for Amish Doshi, who previously ran in a special election for civil court in June. Doshi is on the civil court ballot a second time after Gov. Hochul signed into law three new spots on the bench in Queens.
“Amish is going to make us all proud on the bench. The district leaders and others who had a chance to vote for him did it unanimously because they knew him, they work with him, they love him and they think that he’ll make a great judge,” he said.
