US Restaurants Close in Solidarity with Anti-Trump Ban Strike

Local Editor

In response to US immigration policies, protests and boycotts are expected to take place nationwide on Thursday, February 16 - dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants."

Participants plan to stay home from work or school and avoid making purchases. Various flyers in circulation call on "all undocumented, residents, citizens, immigrants from all around the world" to take part, noting that "we might lose a day of work but we will win so much more."

"Without us and without our contribution, this country is paralyzed," according to some of the flyers.

Due to the large number of immigrants working in the restaurant industry, restaurants nationwide are closing in support of the strike or finding other ways to show solidarity or avoid penalizing employees for staying home.

Locally, a few restaurants announced their intentions; we're tracking them here, and we'll update this list throughout the day as more come to our attention.

In the meantime, many restaurateurs are scrambling to figure out exactly how many employees will be participating in the strike. Some restaurants are preparing to close for the day if need be.

The campaign had largely spread through word of mouth, paper and electronic fliers, and Facebook.

Thursday's event follows on the heels of another strike protesting Trump's executive order on immigration. On Monday, a "Day Without Latinos" march was held in Milwaukee, in which 30,000 protesters participated and 150 businesses closed, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team