Demonstrators in front of the John A. Wilson Building in Washington, D.C.

Day Without Immigrants (or A Day Without Immigrants) was a protest and boycott that took place on February 16, 2017, to demonstrate the importance of immigration,[1][2] and to protest President Donald Trump's plans to build a border wall and to potentially deport millions of undocumented immigrants.[3] The strike called for immigrants not to go to work, to avoid spending money, and keep children home from school.[4] People took part to show the importance of immigrants to the economy and also to protest possible racial profiling of U.S. citizens by immigration enforcement.[5] The strike was planned on social media.[6] People first started talking about the strike after the Women's March, and as the idea gained momentum, important people in the restaurant industry helped boost exposure.[7]

Locations

Shop and restaurant owners in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Portland,[8] San Francisco, Phoenix,[6] Nashville,[9] Albuquerque,[10] Denton,[11] Dallas,[12] Fort Worth,[13] Washington,[14][15] New York,[15] and other major U.S. cities closed their doors in a show of solidarity with their workers.[16] Over 50 restaurants were closed in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.[14] Around six food outlets closed at the Pentagon.[14] Three dining options at the Architect of the Capitol were closed.[17] In Chicago, five of the Pete's Fresh Market locations closed and the owner, Vanessa Dremonas, vowed not to penalize workers who participated in the protest.[18] Rick Bayless closed many of his restaurants at the urging of staff.[6] Many restaurants in Boston closed, or served menus with fewer choices.[19] Many McDonald's chains were closed across the country.[20] Nearly all of the stores in Midwood, Brooklyn were closed.[6] Over 1,000 businesses were closed in Dallas.[12]

In Austin, only 60 percent of students attended school in the KIPP Austin Comunidad charter school network.[6] The Fort Worth Independent School District saw their elementary school attendance rate go down by 35 percent.[13] Thousands of children in Fresno County did not attend school.[21]

In Milwaukee, a similar event took place on February 13, 2017, called "A Day Without Latinos."[22]

Activities

Protesters in Northfield, Minnesota

The Davis Museum at Wellesley College removed from the display or cloaked in black cloth about 20 per cent of the museum's display; the 120 works of art had either been created or donated by an immigrant.[23]

The non-profit organization Many Languages One Voice organized a protest march from Washington, D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood to the White House.[4]

In Chicago, a rally took place at Union Park with hundreds of workers marching towards the Mexican consulate on Ashland Avenue at noon on Thursday.[24] Hundreds of demonstrators marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capitol.[25] Protesters gathered outside city hall in Homestead, Florida.[26] A demonstration was held in Frankfort at the Kentucky State Capitol.[27]

Some restaurants that stayed open have said they will donate part of their proceeds from Thursday to immigrant advocacy organizations.[4]

Controversy

The Los Angeles Unified School District urged students not to take part in the protest.[5] In the Bay Area, Redwood City School District also asked families to ensure their kids came to school.[28]

District of Columbia Public Schools Chief John Davis emailed principals stating: "all students and staff are expected to be in school throughout the day".[29]

Teachers from Rubidoux High School in Jurupa Valley, California commented disparagingly on Latino students missing classes on social media. Because of the controversy and their comments, they were placed on paid leave while an investigation takes place.[30]

Some restaurants fired their workers who chose to take an unexcused day off on the 16th. Twelve Hispanic workers in Catoosa, Oklahoma were fired for not showing up to work.[31] In Nashville, 18 people lost their jobs for skipping work to take part in the boycott.[32] JVS Masonry in Denver fired around 30 workers for not coming into work on that Thursday.[33] Twenty-one people were fired from Encore Boat Builders for failing to show for their scheduled work day.[34]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Day Without Immigrants 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Kopan, Tal (February 15, 2017). "DC preps for 'Day Without Immigrants,' but Hill takes little notice". CNN. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ Chappell, Bill (16 February 2017). "'A Day Without Immigrants' Promises A National Strike Thursday". NPR. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  3. ↑ Esmeralda Bermudez, In Los Angeles, 'A Day Without Immigrants' resonates latimes.com February 16, 2017
  4. 1 2 3 Perry Stein, Restaurants, schools close in ‘Day Without Immigrants’ protest washingtonpost.com February 16, 2017
  5. 1 2 Etehad, Matt Hamilton, Melissa (2017-02-16). "'A Day Without Immigrants' protests: L.A. Unified urges students not to take part". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-02-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Robbins, Liz; Correal, Annie (2017-02-16). "On a 'Day Without Immigrants,' Workers Show Their Presence by Staying Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  7. ↑ Crowley, Chris. "How New York's Restaurants Are Supporting the 'Day Without Immigrants'". Grub Street. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  8. ↑ Portland, Oregon:
  9. ↑ "'A Day Without Immigrants' Protests In Nashville". WTVF. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  10. ↑ Reilly, Patrick (2017-02-16). "'A day without immigrants' arrives: Can a strike move immigrants' concerns forward?". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  11. ↑ "Nationwide "A Day Without Immigrants" affects Denton". Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  12. 1 2 TEGNA. "Dallas workers join national 'Day Without Immigrants' protest". WFAA. Archived from the original on 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  13. 1 2 "Day Without Immigrants Boycott Having An Impact In North Texas". CBS News. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  14. 1 2 3 "U.S. immigrants skip work, school in anti-Trump protest". Reuters. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  15. 1 2 "'Day Without Immigrants' Protests Being Held Across US". CBS New York. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  16. ↑ Stanglin, Doug (February 16, 2017). "Businesses across U.S. close, students skip school on 'Day Without Immigrants'". USA Today.
  17. ↑ Kopan, Tal (15 February 2017). "DC preps for 'Day Without Immigrants,' but Hill takes little notice". CNN. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  18. ↑ News, ABC. "'Day Without Immigrants': Protest closes restaurants in US". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-16. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ "What's closed in the Boston area for the Day without Immigrants protests? – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  20. ↑ Sarah Whitten, McDonald's chains shutter across US in support of 'A Day Without Immigrants' protest cnbc.com 2017-02-16
  21. ↑ "Valley businesses close, students stay home in Day Without Immigrants demonstration". fresnobee. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  22. ↑ "Thousands protest immigration crackdown in 'Day Without Latinos'". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  23. ↑ LIZ ROBBINS and ANNIE CORREAL, On a ‘Day Without Immigrants,’ Workers Show Their Presence by Staying Home nytimes.com 2017-02-16
  24. ↑ "Hundreds gather for 'Day Without Immigrants' rally in Chicago". WGN-TV. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  25. ↑ TEGNA. "Hundreds march for 'Day Without Immigrants'". KVUE. Archived from the original on 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  26. ↑ "South Floridians Join 'Day Without Immigrants' Protests". NBC 6 South Florida. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  27. ↑ "Kentucky, Indiana businesses shut for 'Day without Immigrants'". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  28. ↑ "Restaurants close for A Day Without Immigrants protest". 16 February 2017. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  29. ↑ Kopan, Tal, CNN, DC preps for 'Day Without Immigrants,' but Hill takes little notice, February 16, 2017
  30. ↑ Wall, Stephen. "Teachers from Jurupa Valley's Rubidoux High on leave for 'Day Without Immigrants' social media posts". The Press Enterprise. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  31. ↑ KTUL, Ethan Hutchins. "Catoosa restaurant fires 12 workers for not showing up on 'Day Without Immigrants'". KTUL. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  32. ↑ "18 People Fired After Participating In "A Day Without Immigrants"". WTVF. 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  33. ↑ "Local workers fired for taking park in 'A Day Without Immigrants'". FOX31 Denver. 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  34. ↑ "Dozens fired after skipping work to participate in 'A Day Without Immigrants' protests". 20 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
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