In cities across the country Monday, pockets of shops and restaurants were closed and some children were held out of school amid “A Day Without Immigrants,’’ a social media-driven protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The campaign seeks to highlight the contributions of noncitizens in the country. Foreign-born workers, both documented and undocumented, made up more than 19% of the U.S. labor force at the end of last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Let’s raise our voices for our rights and our families,’’ said one online flier urging the protest. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday’s action was moved up from a planned May date in light of Trump’s new immigration policies, including his sweeping order on birthright citizenship.
The boycott comes on the heels of Sunday’s large demonstration in downtown Los Angeles. Thousands rallied against Trump’s avowed deportations and closed down a stretch of a major freeway for several hours.
Anti-deportation demonstrators protest the Trump administration’s deportations near police officers blocking an entrance to the 101 freeway on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Thousands marched and protested against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and mass deportations in downtown Los Angeles, blocking the 101 freeway multiple times and creating gridlock in the area.
The U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency says it has arrested some 7,400 undocumented immigrants since around Jan. 23, highlighting those with a history of violent crimes in posts on X.
Here’s the USA TODAY Network’s look at protests and closures.
Florida
The Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that about a dozen food trucks, grocery stores and restaurants in the Northwest Florida city joined the demonstration Monday. The list included mostly Mexican restaurants and markets, including El Gallo Latin Market.
Grace Resendez McCaffery, owner of La Costa Latina newspaper, told the News Journal she had also seen dozens more restaurants from Mobile, Alabama, to Walton County, Florida, take action.
“The point is to feel the impact that our immigrant community has in our community, in our country,’’ she said. “It’s just acknowledgement that it is an immigrant community that feeds them.”
Ohio
In Columbus, Ohio, establishments that locked down Monday and backed the protest included High Bank Distillery, La Michoacana markets, La Dulce Vida ice cream shops, Pecan Penny’s BBQ restaurant and El Barco Mexican Restaurants, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
“We stand in solidarity with our staff,’’ High Bank Distillery said on social media in announcing its three brew pubs wouldn’t open.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoman newspaper cited at least 10 businesses that remained shut Monday in solidarity with the strike in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. That included restaurants owned by Good Egg Dining, a dining group in the state that includes multiple Mexican restaurants as well as barbeque, seafood and other kinds of eateries, according to its website.
The company shared on social media: “Our industry, our restaurants, and our communities are built on the hard work, passion, and dedication of immigrants. They are the backbone of our kitchens, our service, and our culture. Today, we stand with them.’’
Washington, DC area
Several businesses in the area known as the DMV – the Washington, D.C., metro area that includes parts of Maryland and Virginia – closed down in support of “A Day Without Immigrants,’’ particularly eateries with a Latin American flavor.
La Casita Pupuseria, a Salvadoran restaurant with several locations in Maryland, put out a statement saying: “Our Latino community is the heart of our businesses and an integral part of this country.”
Some areas also saw students stay home from school.
Bob Mosier, the chief communications officer for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, told WBAL NewsRadio “It looks like more than a third of our Hispanic students are absent today. By comparison last Monday about nine percent of our Hispanic students were absent, so certainly there is a significant difference in those two days.”
California
School absences and business closures also spread to California, the site of multiple days of protests over Trump’s immigration and deportation policies.
The Inglewood Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District in Southern California both confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that they saw a spike in absences without confirming a specific number.
In San Francisco, the Chronicle reported residents from not only the city but also Oakland and other Bay Area locations were participating in the protest, either by holding a rally or closing shop.
“It’s a rallying cry,” Mario Cruz, who runs a website that publicizes Latino cultural events, told the newspaper. “The Latino community has had it. We are a vital part of the United States.”
Has this happened before?
Yes, on Feb. 16, 2017, less than a month after Trump took office for his first term. Immigration was also at the heart of Trump’s initial presidential campaign, including his signature promise to build a wall along the U.S. southern border.
People from nearly 40 states participated in the one-day boycott. Its origins go back to a 2006 strike that prompted hundreds of thousands in the country to skip work and school to protest immigration reforms by former President George W. Bush’s administration.
Demonstrators march down Broadway to City Hall in downtown Los Angeles to bring attention to the immigration issue on May 1, 2006 during, “The Great May 1st Boycott,” or “A Day Without an Immigrant.”.
Weren’t authorities focusing on criminals?
The president has repeatedly said his administration will prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal histories.
However, when asked by a reporter last week how many of those arrested by ICE in the January sweeps have criminal records, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said they all broke U.S. immigration laws, “and therefore they are criminals as far as this administration goes.’’
Media reports indicate hundreds and possibly thousands of those arrested in sweeps by immigration authorities, including children, don’t have a criminal record. That has created fear among immigrant communities, experts say, even in people who have been in the U.S. for years and avoided trouble with the law.
“Now, everything is up for grabs,’’ said Veronica Thronson, a clinical law professor at Michigan State University and director of its Immigration Law Clinic. “(Trump’s) message is, anybody who is here unlawfully is not going to be safe from law enforcement. Just by the fact you’re here unlawfully, you could get picked up.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Day without immigrants protest: What to know about closures
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