On Monday, February 3rd, 2025, a boycott of businesses, schools, jobs, and shops was held to prove the importance of immigrants contribution. This day was called “A Day Without Immigrants”. This protest was mainly media-driven, spreading through TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook posts, with a photo asking for fifty protests in all fifty state capitals. The day was inspired by similar protests from the past such as the boycotts on May 1st, 2006, and February 16, 2017.
The first protest began on May 1st, 2006 in Los Angeles where immigrant groups asked for a protest on International Workers Day. This protest was against the Sensenbrenner Bill, a racist bill against immigrants that criminalized their families and supporters, and President George W. Bush’s administration. The economy reportedly took a big hit, where a study says that, “[T]he boycott in Los Angeles alone totaled about $300 million—a fifth of its daily intake. The Los Angeles Unified School District reported a loss of about $2 million.” The second protest occurred on February 16, 2017, when a boycott was organized after Donald Trump taking office. This was against Trump’s original promise of building a wall against immigration. It was said that nearly forty states participated in the one-day boycott.
During A Day Without Immigrants, businesses across states decided to shut down for the day, absences were seen in schools, rallies were held with signs or Mexican flags, and businesses were boycotted. Although most states participated, some of the main protests were held in California, New Mexico, and Chicago. California was split into two sections: Southern California and Los Angeles. In Southern California, people marched and gathered outside the federal court to protest; while in Los Angeles, two hundred fifty people gathered, blocked traffic with cars and performed “stunts”, climbed a metal tower over the freeway (causing the 101 freeway to close for hours), drove pick-up trucks to protest, and climbed traffic lights.
New Mexico protests were held in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe; the main focus was in Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, there was a protest where four hundred people met at the capitol and held signs while chanting. Some of the signs said “Deport Musk” while they were chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho – Elon Musk has got to go!” and “No Project 2025!” The protest here was directly against Trump, Elon Musk, the Project 2025 policy, and deportations. Additionally, In Chicago, people were rallying by carrying Mexican flags and signs. The signs had sayings like “No Raids, No Deportations”, “People United will Defend Immigrant Rights”, “The People will Defeat Trump Far-Right Agenda”, and “Know Your Rights.”
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