Arizona participated in the nationwide protest “Day Without Immigrants” against the executive order signed by Donald Trump on immigration ban.
As many as one-third of the student population skipped class in Phoenix schools and a small number of Arizona businesses were closed or at reduced staffing as foreign born and their supporters stayed home on Thursday.
The demonstrations by both legal immigrants and the undocumented people came in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The goal of the “Day Without immigrants” was to show the whole U.S. social and economic impact.
Several posts circulated in social media sites instructing people not to work, open their businesses, spend money or go to school.
By Thursday afternoon, the campaign seemed to have some impact across Arizona, but it was not widespread.
Closed.#DayWithoutImmigrants #Phoenix @BARRIOCAFE1 @chefSILVANAphx pic.twitter.com/0w5OkXClG7
— Michael Edgecomb (@TheEdgePHX) February 16, 2017
Acclaimed chef Silvana Salcido Esparza closed his businesses Barrio Cafe, Barrio Urbano and Barrio Cafe Gran Reserva in Phoenix for the day. The Barrio Café located at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was not closed because chef Esparza does not own it, she said.
Few other Arizona restaurants that announced closures as part of “Day Without Immigrants” include “Tres Leches Cafe and Mariscos Playa Hermosa in downtown Phoenix, Tortas El Manantial in Maryvale and Salsa Brava in Flagstaff”.
Roughly there are 41 million immigrants in the Country; an estimated 11 million of those may be undocumented.
According to studies if undocumented people were deported, US could face losses up to $551.6 million within just one year.
The restaurant industry was leading up the civil rights protest, as many cooks, waiters, bus boys and others in the business, typically hail from other countries.
Day Without immigrants in Bay Area
Few non-restaurant businesses also joined the protest, including Jam Sports in Desert Sky Mall.
Legends Event Center in Phoenix, a popular location for quinceañeras, moved a planned open house from Thursday to next week in order to participate in the protest.
Tucson poet Enrique García Naranjo posted a thread of tweets explaining that even people who could not skip work or school could show solidarity by patronizing Mexican- or immigrant-owned businesses.
Maha Shivaratri Celebrations- Ekta Mandir Arizona
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