‘Day Without Immigrants’ Protests Close Restaurants Across the Country
Businesses are shuttering for the day to protest the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant policies
On Monday, restaurants and other businesses across the country closed their doors in solidarity with a Day Without Immigrants. The protest is intended to combat increasing anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States and demonstrate the essential roles that immigrants have in our society in light of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and threats of mass deportations.
Dozens of restaurants across the country, including in Illinois, California, Indiana, and Texas, have announced that they will close in protest on Monday. Many of these establishments are owned by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Immigrants make up 22 percent of the restaurant workforce, according to the American Immigration Council, and as such, Trump’s threats feel especially personal for restaurant owners and workers. “We stand alongside our community in taking a stance against the aggressive immigration policies laid out by the Trump administration,” wrote Portland, Oregon vegan taqueria Mis Tacones on Instagram. “In this tough time, we need a day to stand up, but also process what’s been happening to our resilient and beautiful community.”
In Washington, D.C., Pearl’s Bagels announced that it would give its staff a paid day off to “make their voices heard” in opposition to the policy. Some businesses, like Perkolator Coffee in Chicago, are choosing to remain open and donate to organizations that offer support to immigrants. According to its Instagram account, Perkolator plans to donate 50 percent of its February 3 sales to two Chicago-based nonprofits.
Monday marks the second iteration of a Day Without Immigrants. The first, held in 2017, was organized as Trump called for the building of a border wall during his first term as president. Thousands of small businesses of all kinds took part in the protest, closing their doors as workers stayed home, kept their children home from school, and refused to spend money in an effort to highlight the invaluable contributions that immigrants make in this country. In cities like Dallas, as many as 1,000 businesses participated in the protest. Even large businesses — a number of McDonald’s locations across the country closed for the day — were impacted.
Monday’s closures follow a weekend of marches and rallies across the country, all in opposition to Trump’s flurry of anti-immigrant policies. In his first week as president, Trump issued more than a dozen executive orders on immigration, implementing rules that would make it easier for officials to deport immigrants without due process, expand immigration enforcement, and eliminate access to legal aid for immigrants who are facing deportation. In Los Angeles, protesters shut down the 101 Freeway as thousands gathered. Similar marches took place in Houston, Minneapolis, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas, among other cities.
Considering that Trump has no plans to slow his attacks on immigrants, it’s likely that these protests will continue in the coming months. And considering how financially challenging the restaurant industry is, choosing to miss out on an entire day of business to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities is the kind of choice that deserves its own solidarity. Perhaps tomorrow, it’s time to make sure that the restaurants, coffee shops, and other eateries participating in this protest are packed full of customers with open wallets.
