IMMIGRANTS ‘WITHOUT THERE IS NO BUSINESS HERE’
DINERS CLOSE, STUDENTS STAY HOME IN PROTEST
SANTA FE — Santa Fe is known for its restaurants. They are part of the appeal of a town that relies heavily on tourism and the City Different typically ranks among the national leaders for dining spots per capita. But, on Thursday, the city’s visitors and residents had to pass up many of the town’s most popular eateries. Dozens of restaurants — and not just those that cater to immigrant diners and including several in the historic Plaza area — and other businesses were closed in recognition of “A Day Without Immigrants,” a national protest intended to highlight the contributions of immigrants to the economy and culture.
“In solidarity with all immigrants we are closed today,” read a sign outside The Shed, a nationally known downtown restaurant just off the Plaza. “May we all reflect on the vital role they play in our day to day lives.”
Also Thursday, hundreds of Santa Fe students stayed away from classes. Santa Fe Public Schools reported much lower attendance rates Thursday, particularly at
the south-side schools that serve much of the city’s immigrant population, although elementary schools weren’t in session anyway because of parent-teacher conferences.
At Capital High School on the south side, Principal Channell Wilson-Segura said about 600 of the 1,400 students enrolled at the school weren’t in attendance. She also knew of about three teachers who didn’t come in as a form of protest, she said. “It was very quiet, eerily quiet,” she said. “We all felt it. It was a day of reflection for everybody.”
A school district spokesman said the absences would be treated as excused if parents called in or students brought in a note and unexcused if they didn’t, as per district policy.
The protests were in reaction to President Donald Trump’s plans for stricter enforcement of immigration law and a wall on the border with Mexico. The list of restaurant closures in Santa Fe also included La Boca, the Burrito Company, Counter Culture Café, Tune up Café, La Choza, Tia Sophia’s, Burrito Company, The Pantry and Jambo Café. A sign at La Boca, an upscale Spanish-style tapas restaurant, said it was joining the protest of Trump’s “aggressive and fascist” immigration policies.
Just east of the city limits, the parking lot at Harry’s Roadhouse was uncharacteristically empty. Those phoning the restaurant got a message informing them Harry’s was closed due to the “A Day Without Immigrants” protest. “We support their voices and their actions. We look forward to seeing you Friday,” it said.
The parking lot was also nearly vacant at another locals and tourist favorite, The Pantry on Cerrillos Road.
A single pickup truck was parked next to the building at what normally would have been the lunch rush. Inside the truck were Juanita Spencer, of Portland, Ore., and a friend, who were passing through town.
“We Googled and found this place. It had a good rating and was not too far off the highway,” Spencer said.
But a sign on the door said The Pantry was closed. “So we went across the street (to El Parasol) and got a burrito. It’s really good,” she said between bites.
There were still plenty of dining choices to be had in Santa Fe. The Plaza Café on the Plaza was pulling in diners as usual. “We gave consideration (to closing Thursday),” Jared Razatos, manager of the store, said. “We talked to the staff. They wanted to work, which is cool with us.” Razatos said one or two people who work in the kitchen didn’t come in Thursday. The Plaza Café Southside, owned by the same family, did close Thursday.
The Santa Fe Reporter weekly newspaper was keeping track via Facebook and other means of local businesses that were closed Thursday and posting them on its website. By 5 p.m., 43 businesses — some with multiple locations — were listed. Businesses as varied as Mobil Clean Car Wash, Goler Fine Imported Shoes, Santa Fe Guitar Academy and Southwest Plastering had shut down.
Ten Thousand Waves, an upscale Japanesethemed spa and hotel, on Thursday was offering free use of its communal baths to all Spanishspeaking immigrants.
Mayor Javier Gonzales has been outspoken against Trump’s immigration policies. He supported the protest, although it may have put a dent in the city’s gross receipts tax revenues.
“A day like today sends a powerful message of what this means for the people who live here and brings a loud voice about fixing a broken immigration system,” he said in an interview. “It serves as a reminder that, if the president is successful, our economy will be disrupted in a very negative way.”
Obvious impact on south side
At Capital High, principal Wilson-Segura said, an announcement was made Wednesday in both English and Spanish mentioning the protest. Students were told that one way they could protest was to wear white, and many students and teachers did, she said.
She said that, clearly, many students and their parents are anxious over what might happen under the Trump administration. “I was born and raised here, and I’m even feeling it,” she said. “As a wife, mother and daughter, if my family was torn apart by a policy, it would break my heart. It rattles everybody to think what could happen.”
On nearby Airport Road, the day of protest was obvious. At the Chamisa Center strip mall, about half the businesses were shut. Next door at Latinos Unidos mini-market, signs posted all around the building printed in Spanish said the store was closed in support of its Latino brothers. The signs also noted that undocumented residents and immigrant citizens shop in stores, eat at restaurants and buy gasoline.
One of the few people parked in the west end of the Chamisa Center’s parking lot early Thursday afternoon, Rafael Rodriguez, was there to visit a tax preparation firm to have his taxes done. Rodriguez was born in Mexico, but has lived in Santa Fe for many years. He said he’s not a U.S. citizen yet, but is “working on it.”
“Donald Trump, he wants to take all the immigrants out of here,” he said. “But without immigrants, there is no business here. There’s no nothing.”
The signs posted at Latinos Unidos also had message for Trump: “Mister President, without us and without our contribution this country is paralyzed,” it said in Spanish. “We’re prepared not to leave; we will lose a day of work but we could win much more.”