‘DAY WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS’
DEMONSTRATION SHUTTERS SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AROUND COUNTRY
Across the nation, thousands of protesters took part in “Day Without Immigrants” events, from marching to boycotting jobs to keeping kids out of school in the hopes of underscoring how migrants form the lifeblood of the country’s economy and society.
Many shop and restaurant owners in Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Austin and other major U.S. cities joined the protest by closing their doors in a show of solidarity with their workers. In many places, immigrants marched to demonstrate their role in the nation’s economy.
“I’m here to be the voice of those who can’t speak,” said Erika Montes, 30, who turned out for a march to the White House. “I’m here to show my students and their families and my friends and family that teachers are supporting them, and we are going to make sure they have a safe place.”
Organizers urged documented and undocumented residents to participate in the boycott in response to President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Among the White House actions rankling protesters are plans to build a border wall, to install a temporary immigration ban on nationals from certain Muslim-majority nations, to boost Border Patrol agents and to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration agents.
Immigrants make up the majority of the 12 million workers in the restaurant industry and up to
of those employed in cities such as New York and Chicago, according to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which works to improve working conditions. About 1.3 million in the industry are immigrants living in the USA illegally, the group said.
Ethan Smith, co-owner of the New York City restaurant Hecho en Dumbo, heard of the strike Wednesday night when other restaurants texted him to see whether he would close. Despite the financial blow, Smith said the restaurant decided to join because of the lack of an authoritative voice to address the fear sweeping the immigrant community over raids by officials.
“This seemed like an opportant tune moment for us to show the undocumented community support,” he said. “We also hope it will show those who may wish to impose broader deportation measures that our community as a whole isn’t going to sit idly by and let neighbors be taken from their homes en masse. The president asserts that he has a big heart in this regard, so we’re hoping he might soon feel inclined to elaborate on that.”
In Washington, Busboys & Poets and more than a dozen other restaurants in the nation’s capital shut down, including the Sweetgreen salad chain. “Our team members are the face of the brand, from the front lines to our kitchen — they’re the backbone of this company and what makes Sweetgreen special,” said cofounders Jonathan Neman, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru. “And that’s why we stand with them, today and every day.”
“From doctors to dishwashers, immigrants are integral to daily life in the U.S.,” tweeted Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, as she praised Spanish-American Chef Jose Andrés’ decision to close his Washington restaurants Thursday.
Andrés decided to close after a few hundred of his employees told him they weren’t coming to work. “We are all one,” he said. “We should not be fighting among each other, we should all be working together to keep moving the country forward.”
Andrés faces a lawsuit from Trump after pulling out of a restaurant deal at Trump’s new Washington hotel over comments the presidential candidate made about Mexican immigrants.
Dozens of restaurants closed in Chicago, including several run by chef Rick Bayless. He kept only two open — Cruz Blanca and Lena Brava — and pledged to give 10% of gross revenue to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Chicago Tribune reported. In Michigan, from Ypsilanti to Detroit to Pontiac, about 100 businesses, restaurants, car dealerships and groceries closed doors.
Along Vernor Highway, a main commercial strip in southwest Detroit, popular stores such as E & L Supermercado and Mexicantown Bakery closed.
“The goal for today is for the president to notice how impor70% immigrants are for the country and for the economy and how bad it would be for the economy if immigrants weren’t in this country,’’ Maria Sanchez, a community leader, said at a rally in Clark Park in southwest Detroit.
Beauty shops, restaurants and bodegas in Passaic, N.J., closed, leaving Monroe Street, a hub for Mexican-owned businesses, without its usually crowded sidewalks Thursday morning.
The lack of people persuaded Leticia Velasquez of Passaic to keep the locks on the doors of her business. Velasquez, a documented resident who came from Mexico years ago, said many of her customers were undocumented.
“I saw that everything was closed, and we have to be in solidarity,” Velasquez said. “There’s usually so many people and today nothing.”
Passaic Mayor Hector Lora applauded business owners for protesting in his city, home to families from many different parts of the world. “They have banded together to send a strong message — that what is important is family and community and not profit,” he said.
Lora said the strike extended to the municipal government, where some employees skipped work, and in schools, where more than 4,000 students representing about 33% of the school population stayed home.
In Englewood, N.J., Donna Ristorucci said she was happy to march for immigrant rights.
“They are here for a better life, and the way they are being treated is inhumane,” Ristorucci said. “This country was built by immigrants and still can’t survive without them.”
In the seaside resort of Asbury Park, N.J., Hector Manny, 33, recalled how he worked 14-hour days, six days a week in restaurants when he came to the USA from Mexico when he was 16.
“We will all participate so that the government can see how much money they can lose if we don’t buy anything from the store, if we don’t buy gas, if we don’t buy food, if we don’t go to work,” said Manny, a sous chef at Brickwall Tavern in the New Jersey seaside resort. “If we stop for one day.”
In Lakewood, Colo., Lowell Faulkner, owner of At Your Service Plumbing, told KDVR-TV closing would cost him a couple thousand dollars.
“To me, it’s worth it to stand behind them,” he said, noting that he and his wife have hired immigrants from eight countries over the years and trained them as plumbers.
“They’re honest. They show up to work every day,” he said. “You’ve got to judge people by the content of their heart, not the color of their skin.”
“They are here for a better life, and the way they are being treated is inhumane. This country was built by immigrants and still can’t survive without them.”
Donna Ristorucci,
marcher in Englewood, N.J.