GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Organizers in cities across the U.S., including in West Michigan, are urging immigrants to skip class, stay home from work, and not patronize businesses Thursday.
Called A Day Without Immigrants, with the hash tag #ADayWithoutImmigrants, the protest is meant to show how critical immigrants are to the U.S. economy and the country’s way of life. Actions are planned in cities including Philadelphia, Washington, and Austin, Texas.
Some Hispanic businesses in the Grand Rapids area also plan on participating.
An assistant manager with Lindo Mexico told FOX 17 that more than a dozen businesses will be closing their doors for the day:
- The National Supermarket
- Tamales Mary
- Tacos El Cunado on Bridge, Burton, and Grandville
- Los Comales Restaurant
- Sin Fronteras Supermarket
- El Globo
- 34th Street Mall
- El Milagro
- El Pollo Loco
- Cancun Restaurant
- 7 Mares Restaurant
- La Huasteca Restaurant
- Pupuseria El Salvador
The protest comes in response to actions by President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has pledged to increase deportation of immigrants living in the country illegally, build a wall along the Mexican border, and ban people from certain majority-Muslim countries from coming into the U.S. He has blamed high unemployment on immigration.