Local eateries close in nod to immigrant help
Fourteen Boston-area restaurants closed their doors to customers yesterday as part of a nationwide “Day Without Immigrants” protest aimed at bringing attention to President Trump’s controversial policies toward illegal immigrants.
According to boston.eater.com, which held a running tally, 14 restaurants in Boston and neighboring communities were closed for business yesterday and another 25 supported the cause by either allowing immigrant workers to switch shifts or take the day off.
“I feel very strongly about supporting my team. I ask them to run through walls for me — it’s my job as a leader to go to bat for them,” said Avi Shemtov, owner of the Chubby Chickpea, a Boston-based food truck that didn’t open yesterday.
Shemtov said he has three immigrant employees and his staffers “felt strongly that this is something they needed to be a part of.”
Shemtov estimated his business lost between $2,500 and $3,000 yesterday. Estimates of what the protest cost the city and state were unavailable last night.
Bob Luz, of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said the “impact is minimal in terms of closures” and noted the state has more than 15,000 restaurants.
In addition to his hardline stance on illegal immigrants, the protest was organized in response to an executive order Trump signed last month that temporarily suspended travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations and halted the country’s refugee program. The ban has since been rejected by federal judges.
In a statement, Gov. Charlie Baker said: “Massachusetts is going to continue to be a global community. ... We benefit tremendously both economically and culturally from that global footprint that we have. I think it’s important for people if they are particularly concerned about these issues, and I certainly understand why they would be, to make a statement and people choose a lot of different ways to make a statement and I’m fine with that.”