Businesses close in protest against Trump’s immigration policies

In a day of protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, several businesses, including nurseries, grocery stores, and salons, across the country.
On Monday, people gathered in Los Angeles for the second day in a row. Waving Mexican and El Salvadoran flags, they carried banners that said “Immigration Built This Nation”, “No I. C. E”., “Abolish I. C. E”. and “I did not serve this country for you to denigrate my people.”
Trump signed executive orders beginning on January 20 that included measures to end birthright citizenship and directed to expelling large numbers of immigrants.
In the weeks that followed, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified its daily raids.
However, employees and business owners who claimed they needed the income were constrained by their participation in the “day without immigrants”; this was especially true given that many migrant communities are afraid to leave, with consequences for some even affecting some schools.
Following Sunday’s protests on Sunday in California and other locations, the event on Monday also came to mind.
The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters’ Noel Xavier, the organization’s organizing director, noted that many workers couldn’t afford to take a day off, despite the importance of showing the country how important migrant workers are to the communities they serve.
“If I don’t go to work today, that’s one day less that I have, you know, to be able to pay for my next rent”, Xavier said of the prevailing sentiment among the workers he organises. “I didn’t notice the significant support for doing that or having the luxury of doing that.”
Andrea Toro decided to close her hair salon in Chicago’s Pilsen neighbourhood. She added that many of her clients are teachers and have witnessed children who have left school since Trump took office last month because they fear traveling may not be safe.
Source: Aljazeera
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