In solidarity w ith im m igrants
Jose And re s a nd othe r che fs a cross the U n ite d S ta te s p ut the ir m on e y whe re the ir m ouths a re :shuttin g d own for a d a y to p rote st Trum p ’s a n ti-im m igra n t p olicie s.
A NUMBER of d ining establishments in the United States closed shop last Thursd ay, Feb 16, as part of a boycott calling for immigrants not to go to work for A Day W ithout Immigrants – in a country that, until now, has had a long history of welcoming newcomers.
“For one single d ay on a weekd ay, we must come together and unite in absolute resistance in ord er to reject the system d ictating the launch from d ehumanisation and blatant oppression of those that are not straight, white, natural-born citizens,” read the social med ia call to action.
The shutd own aimed to show the world “how crucial we are to the basic fund amentals of the United States’ economy,”, accord ing to the Facebook post.
The initiative kicked off without a central organiser, staying und er the rad ar until the announcement that some high-profile restaurants in W ashington DC would participate helped it gain momentum.
Over 50 restaurants in DC closed on that d ay.
Eateries in New York, Atlanta, Philad elphia, San Francisco and Portland – among other major US cities– also participated in the oned ay protests. School attend ance d ropped in certain areas, and other businesses also closed .
DC-based Jose And res – himself an immigrant from Spain, who became an award -winning celebrity chef and built a restaurant empire – said on Twitter that he closed five of his establishments to show support for workers.
However, d oors at one of his restaurants, China Chilcano, remained open to customers and offered work to employees who d id not wish to protest, his management said without ind icating if d emonstrating workers were paid .
Some restaurant owners said their employees were paid while protesting, while other workers would take d ays off; there were also workers who took part in the boycott and were fired for d oing so.
Some of the restaurants that stayed open said that they would d onate part proceed s from the d ay’s takings to immigrant ad vocacy organisations.
And res is in a legal battle with Trump, which came about after the chef pulled out of plans to open a restaurant in the real estate mogul’s W ashington hotel.
And res cited the Republican’s anti-immigrant comments on the campaign trail as his reason for backing out.
The call to boycott comes after last week’s series of immigration raid s that round ed up some 680 people – three-quarters of them with a criminal record – for expulsion.
The raid s stirred worries in immigrant communities, but were not out of line with similar actions carried out und er former Presid ent Barack Obama.
At least 11 million people are living in the United States illegally.
Und ocumented immigrants make up about nine percent of employees in the hotel and restaurant ind ustry in 2014, accord ing to the Pew Research Center. – AFP Relaxnews