Some US businesses close in a 'day without immigrants.' But many say they can't lose income
Several businesses from day cares to grocery stores and hair salons closed Monday across the U.S. in a loosely organized day of protest against President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
But participation in the “day without immigrants” faced headwinds from employees and business owners who said they need the income — especially as rumors of widespread raids, often false, are leaving many migrant communities afraid to venture outside, affecting even some schools. Monday's event also came on the heels of street protests Sunday in California and elsewhere.
Noel Xavier, organizing director for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, said that while it’s important to remind the country of the value migrant workers bring to the communities they toil in, many workers couldn't afford to take a day off...
Andrea Toro decided to close her hair salon in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. She added that many of her clients are teachers and have seen children missing school since Trump took office last month because they fear it may not be safe to go. In Chicago, as in San Diego, school districts said some students and families were participating in Monday’s protest...
El Burrito Mercado, which boomed from a small Latino market in the 1970s to one of the most widely recognized restaurant, catering and grocery businesses in St. Paul, Minnesota, shut for the whole day in 2017 — when the latest major such event was held at the beginning of the first Trump administration.
But on Monday, it stayed open for a few hours with a skeleton crew, said co-owner Milissa Silva.
Her parents emigrated from Mexico, and most of the 90 employees have Mexican roots. But many staffers expressed concern about losing a work day and about depriving people in the neighborhood of access to groceries.
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