As we noted over the weekend, one of the immediate consequences of the Trump immigration executive order - and one which has so far gone largely unchallenged - has been a crackdown against illegal immigrants residing in the US. Following reports that first surfaced over the weekend that US immigration officials had launched countrywide raids and arrested hundreds of illegal aliens across the nation as a result of that immigration executive order, President Trump weighed in on Twitter, stating that "the crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!"
The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017
But, as it turns out, the "undocumented immigrants" are not going down without a fight.
Per a flyer that has been floating around the migrant farmworker community in California, illegal immigrants are planning "A Day Without Immigrants Boycott" for tomorrow. As part of the effort to demonstrate how vital illegal immigrants to the U.S. economy, "undocumented, residents, citizens, immigrants from all over the world" are encouraged to participate in the protest as follows:
- Do NOT attend work
- Do NOT open up our businesses
- Do NOT shop online or in stores
- Do NOT eat at restaurants
- Do NOT buy gas
- Do NOT attend class
- Skip School
- Do NOT send children to school
The flyer also has a direct message for President Trump:
"Without us and our contribution this country is paralyzed!!!!"
"We might lose a day of work but we will WIN so much more."
As CNN reports, the "Day Without Immigrants" protest is also being planned for residents of Washington D.C. for tomorrow with many restaurants making plans to operate on short staffs and/or close for the day while public schools were forced to make contingency plans for walkouts.
Immigrants and supporters are planning to strike Thursday in a protest loosely organized by social media and word of mouth. The goal is to demonstrate the importance of immigrants to society, as the Trump administration continues to pursue hard-line enforcement policies that advocates fear will disrupt communities and the economy.
Restaurants in the DC area were planning to operate with short staff, offer menus in solidarity with striking immigrants and in some cases, close altogether.
Schools were preparing as well. A bilingual charter school in Northwest DC planned to close, and DC public schools were preparing for possible walkouts.
Something tells us that pink flyer above might end up earning a lot of illegal immigrants a "pink slip" from their employers.