Businesses in cities across the country prepared to close Thursday as immigrants boycott their jobs, classes and shopping.
Immigrants in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Austin, Texas, and other major U.S. cities plan to stay home Thursday as part of a strike called "A Day Without Immigrants."
Coming on the heels of roundups of undocumented immigrants nationwide, organizers urge legal residents as well as undocumented ones to participate in the boycott in response to President Trump's crackdown on immigration, which includes plans to build a border wall and a temporary immigration ban on nationals from certain Muslim-majority nations.
"From doctors to dishwashers, immigrants are integral to daily life in the U.S.," tweeted Janet Murguia, president and CEO of National Council of La Raza, as she praised Spanish-American Chef Jose Andrés' decision to close his Washington, D.C., restaurants Thursday.
he celebrity chef said he decided to close after a few hundred of his employees told him they werent coming to work Thursday. They asked for his support and got it.
We are all one," he said. "We should not be fighting among each other, we should all be working together to keep moving the country forward."
Andrés faces a lawsuit against Trump after pulling out of a restaurant deal at Trump's new Washington, D.C., hotel over offensive comments Trump made about Mexican immigrants.
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It is unclear at this time how many immigrants in the United States will join the boycott, but restaurants across the Northeast closed their stories in solidarity with the movement. Health-food chain Sweet Green announced it would close its 18 stores in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area.
