Today Is The “Day Without Immigrants”

The nationwide protest and boycott will highlight the significance of immigrants in the United States

If everything goes according to plan, you may notice that something’s a little different today. Perhaps your favorite restaurant is running a little slowly today. Maybe your classroom looks unusually empty. It could be that your business is experiencing an odd dip in sales, or that your normally crowded seats are unfilled.

Of course, you may already know what’s going on. You may very well be one of the people participating in this nationwide boycott, popularly called the “day without immigrants”. This effort is meant to demonstrate the centrality of all immigrants, documented or otherwise, to American society. Participants will call out from work, close their businesses, and refrain from shopping. Flyers and social media posts have even encouraged them to take their kids out of school.

While some are nervous about the effects of the Day Without Immigrants, others are supporting the move. Businesses and restaurants throughout the country will work at reduced capacity or even close for the day. Celebrity chef José Andrés will close five of his restaurants. Several businesses in the Washington, D.C. area will be affected as well. The nation’s capital, by the way, has the largest immigrant population in the nation. The 2010 census shows that about 21.8% of D.C. residents are foreign-born.

This protest comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s immigration-related actions. Trump himself has negatively referred to immigrants on numerous occasions, focusing especially on undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries. In a 2015 speech, he said that “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

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Recent immigration challenges create turmoil

The Trump administration’s recent executive order effectively banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries sparked vehement nationwide protests. Since that order’s debut on January 27, it has undergone numerous challenges in the legal system. Under Trump, ICE immigration raids have not necessarily increased, though they are now experiencing greater scrutiny than before. Also, however much Trump and his compatriots have touted their love for legal immigrants, foreign-born people of all kinds have felt the pressure of his policies.

However you may feel about all of this, it should be painfully clear that racism and xenophobia do not make for effective government. Already, these executive orders and unfettered statements from our President have generated unusual amounts of civil unrest.

If Trump’s touted policies were enforced to their fullest extent, our country would look starkly different. Who would clean your office buildings, your schools, your homes? Where would your teachers and professors be? Who would prepare your meals and harvest farmers’ crops? Where would be the caretakers for our elders and children?

How does your community look right now? Maybe, depending on where you live, nothing much has changed. However, if you live in a major metropolitan area or somewhere else with a large immigrant population, the alteration has genuinely affected your day. Certainly, if you are taking part in the Day Without Immigrants, then you already know how intertwined your life is with your community, and yet how invisible your work can be.

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How does the history of immigration affect us today?

Meanwhile, if you are not participating in the boycott, think long and hard about how much your community relies on the work of immigrants. Think about the history of immigration in the United States. Our country was, for better or for worse, built by efforts of early immigrants. Consider also their later reactions to other newcomers and the competing spirits of welcome and fear.

So, if legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act or the exclusion of refugees before and during World War II makes you uncomfortable, dig deeper. Do any of the United States’ modern policies look similar? What history are you willing to repeat? What rotten parts of our background should be remembered but left in the past?

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While we probably won’t know the extent of the Day Without Immigrants immediately, it is at least worth taking a good, long look at your community.