A Day Without Immigrants – A Nationwide Protest

In an effort to give Americans a small glimpse of how the United States is impacted by the contributions of immigrants, on Thursday, February 16th there was a protest called “A Day Without Immigrants.” In cities across the United States, immigrants closed their businesses and chose not to spend money as a way of demonstrating to President Trump how much they contribute to the U.S. economy as he demonstrates his unrelenting stance on immigration.

Nationwide, businesses shut down in protest of Trump’s immigration policies. One of the protestor’s signs read “Immigrants Make America Great.” A story on CNN.com highlighted some of the stories of the different ways in which people showed their solidarity with the protest:

• The prep-cooks at a D.C. restaurant got permission from their boss to strike, so they did all the day’s prep work on Wednesday. They left a note with instructions for their boss, who posted a picture of the note on Twitter.
• A Texas woman who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and is now a dual citizen, and works for a local government agency, did not work on Thursday in support of the immigrants’ strike. Although she used a vacation day to get out of working, she also vowed to not spend any money that day.
• At the Pentagon, employees were warned that several of the food concessions would be closed on Thursday due to the immigrant employees’ participation in the protest.
• Restaurants across the country were affected, as were many diverse industries including grocery stores, construction, plumbers, carpenters and others chose to participate in the protest.

Unfortunately, not all the news about the protest was good. NBC news reported that more than 100 protesters across the country were fired after they skipped work to participate in the “A Day Without Immigrants” protest. In Tennessee, more than 20 employees at a painting company in Nolensville were laid off after participating in the nationwide strike. Employees there were warned that they risked being fired if they participated in the strike, but 18 workers chose to join the peaceful protest.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are about 26.3 million foreign-born people working in the U.S. In 2015, they accounted for about 16.7% of the workforce in the U.S., which is up 15% from 2005. A story in USA Today reported that foreign-born households contributed about $106.9 billion in income tax revenue in 2012, and they made up about 47% of America’s workforce expansion from 2004 to 2014 and about 40% of Forbes 500 companies including Google, Apple and Intel.

In the wake of the firing of employees for participating in the marches, come people are taking to social media calling for a boycott of the business that fired their workers for participating.

A Boston restaurant displayed a picture of pasta, olive oil, wine and coffee beans with the headline, “We are all imported.”

If you are worried about how the new administration’s immigration policy will affect you and your family and friends, you are not alone. If you have questions about how to become a permanent resident in Tennessee, you are welcome to contact Knoxville immigration attorney Patrick Slaughter at LaFevor & Slaughter, or call 865-637-6258, to schedule a consultation to discuss your case today. We will represent you in your journey towards permanent residency or citizenship, and we will protect your rights when someone has violated them.