These businesses across America are shutting down today for the 'Day Without Immigrants' strike

By Rafi Schwartz  |  February 16, 2017 | 2:11pm
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In cities across the United States, local businesses are closing their doors as part of a nationwide “day without immigrants” strike.

The largely grassroots action comes as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency under President Donald Trump has cracked down on immigrant communities in a series of nationwide raids.

Spread primarily through social media and by word of mouth, the “day without immigrants” strike encourages participants to stay home from work, school, and to refrain from shopping in order to demonstrate the financial and civic power America’s immigrant communities have.

In Washington, DC, dozens of restaurants have announced plans to close, including those owned by celebrity chef Jose Andres, who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the president after he backed out of opening a restaurant in Trump’s DC hotel following Trump’s racist comments about Mexicans in 2015.

Local cafe/bookstore mainstay Busboys and Poets will also be closed throughout the day.

Fusion’s Armando Gallardo captured more images from the DC area.

By mid-morning, a military official confirmed at least seven businesses at the Pentagon were closed as a result of the strike, including a Sbarro’s, a Taco Bell, and a Qdoba.

It’s not just DC businesses that are expecting disruption.

In Chicago, celebrity chef Rick Bayless—who focuses largely on Mexican cuisine—announced similar plans to close his various properties in solidarity with the immigrants striking today.

In the Twin Cities, more than three dozen local restaurants have pledged to lock up for the day, while in Austin, TX, at least fifteen restaurants have notified customers that they will be closed.

“I first learned sushi from the Mexican immigrant community here in Austin,” one local restauranteur explained to Austin’s KUT public radio station. “Without them I wouldn’t be a sushi chef of the caliber that I am today.

Community organizers in Philadelphia told local media they expect hundreds of participants in Thursday’s strike, with a number of local businesses posting signs to notify customers that they’ll be closed for the day.

Over 70 Latinx-owned businesses have reportedly planned to close in Des Moines, IA, on Thursday, with many of their proprietors planning to rally at the state capital, instead. According to the Des Moines Register, participants have been asked to bring only American flags.

A large march is also planned for Washington, DC, where immigrants and their allies are expected to converge outside the White House around noon, EST.

Thursday’s Day Without Immigrants comes one day before a planned general nationwide strike.

 
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