A national labor union leader appeared with a bevy of Hudson County politicos in Jersey City this morning to herald the opening of a new immigrant services center, one the union leader said would help to create more Democratic voters.

Tefere Gebre, executive vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, was speaking at the grand opening of the We Are One New Jersey immigration center on Bergen Avenue.

We Are One New Jersey will provide legal permanent immigrants with free legal counseling and a free 10-week class to prepare them to take the citizenship test. A project of the AFL-CIO, it will also register new citizens to vote, and Gebre, an Ethiopian immigrant, said that effort could help turn Republican-leaning electorates a little more Democratic.

"We need your voice in the daily running of our country," Gebre said. "We need your voice to go to the polling place and vote, to be counted on in decisions that we make in this country."

He added: "In addition to that obvious fact, this is also good for the immigrants themselves."

Grebre's comments come one week before voters head to the polls in mid-term elections that could give Republicans control to the U.S. Senate. Polling shows Latino voters, seen as crucial to Democrats in states like Colorado, have soured on President Obama since he announced in June that he would delay taking action on immigration reform until after November.

Gebre said demographic shifts helped to turn historically Republican Orange County, California – where former President Bill Clinton won 38 percent of the vote in his successful 1996 re-election bid – a little less red. Two years ago, 45 percent of Orange County voters cast ballots for Obama.

"That didn't just happen by itself," Gebre said. "People worked on it, like you guys are here starting something today."

The remarks of the Democratic Party bigwigs who spoke before and after Gebre, a number of whom are seeking re-election next Tuesday, focused less on politics and more on the nation's history of welcoming immigrants. A cardboard replica of the Statue of Liberty stood behind them.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said We Are One New Jersey will increase the chances that legal immigrants can find better jobs, education and health care. The state's junior senator, Cory Booker, who seeks his first full term next Tuesday, said "the diversity, the tapestry, the rainbow of the globe, here in America, is what has always made us strong."

Jeff Bell, Booker's Republican opponent, said Gebre is "absolutely right" to note that new citizens are likely to vote Democratic.

"It's a disgrace that the Republican Party has allowed this issue to be forfeited to the Democrats," Bell said, adding that Obama and congressional Democrats have done "nothing" to revamp the nation's immigration laws.

Bell said he supports comprehensive immigration reform, including more permanent visas and "a path for legality" for immigrants already here illegally.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.