#DayWithoutImmigrants

#DayWithoutImmigrants

#DayWithoutImmigrants

My friends and I are children and grandchildren of immigrants. Our relatives were lucky and either left home at the right time or were accepted as refugees.  And some of our relatives came into the US through Canada. They did not speak English, they worked day and night in really unpleasant jobs most of the time.  And most of these people including my 4 grandparents became naturalized US Citizens.   Today is the #daywithoutimmigrants protest throughout the US.

Why is this protest happening?  One reason is that during the campaign and afterwards, Trump administration has called Hispanic immigrants “Bad Hombres” and has gone after Arab immigrants.  There was a ban on anyone from several Arabic Countries entering the US.  Including green card holders. Noting that this list does not include Egypt or Saudi Arabia where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from. So immigrants are worried and mad.

The New York Times discusses the campaign here

The campaign, spread on social media and messaging apps, has called for a “day without immigrants.” It asks foreign-born people nationwide, regardless of legal status, not to go to work or go shopping in a demonstration of the importance of their labor and consumer spending to the United States’ economy.

Hispanic communities are running with this.  And many businesses closed today.  The good news is this is supposed to be a peaceful protest.

But what will the consequences be?  Here is my list of four consequence.

Impact

One big group impacted is students and public schools:  The Grand Rapids Public Schools issued a statement reported here:

“When a child misses school, for any reason, they miss a chance to learn and grow. We hope that we can count on you to send your child to school each and every day, including Thursday.”

I am not sure what pulling the kids from school would do to show how vital immigrants are but I also don’t care for “ski trip” absences.  Call me a curmudgeon but let the kids learn.

Second group impacted is people working hourly or temp jobs.  For a lot of recent immigrants, no work means no pay.  Word to the wise: no call no show usually gets you fired.

The third group impacted is businesses.

Owners of some smaller businesses said that they supported the idea but that the campaign was too hastily organized to justify closing. Josh Phillips, a co-owner of Espita Mezcaleria in Washington, said that rather than close, he wanted to donate a portion of his restaurant’s proceeds on Thursday to the organizers of the campaign. But, he said, “we still don’t know who’s organizing it.”

Each dinner receipt, Mr. Phillips said, will be inscribed with the phrase, “This meal was made possible by immigrants.”

Last group impacted is the Trump administration.  What they said and how they said it started this whole campaign.  Had Donald Trump targeted illegal immigrants without the Bad Hombres crack and had his law been better explained, maybe people might not be so pissed?

Twitter responds:

Being out of school:

Businesses and workers:

And this:

I sincerely hope the President and his staff learn from this event (and manage not to tweet).  How you say something is important.  And to the protestors, please stay coherent and nonviolent.  And thank you for no Hello Kitty hats this time.

 

Written by

8 Comments
  • GWB says:

    There was a ban on anyone from several Arabic Countries entering the US. Including green card holders.

    Well, no. Iran is not Arabic. Neither is Sudan or Somalia. Libya is questionable if you’re claiming it’s “Arabic”.
    And I was under the impression the EO did not actually include legal residents, but the implementation went that way temporarily (and stupidly).

    Hispanic communities are running with this.

    Is it “Hispanic” communities? Or is it communities where a large segment of the population is (or was) illegal aliens? Because, somehow, I doubt the Cuban population in Miami will be participating in this. Nor those legal immigrants from Spain.

    Each dinner receipt, Mr. Phillips said, will be inscribed with the phrase, “This meal was made possible by immigrants.”

    And I would write (only once, because I wouldn’t ever go back) in place of the tip:
    “This business made possible by citizens and legal residents.”

    Had Donald Trump targeted illegal immigrants without the Bad Hombres crack and had his law been better explained, maybe people might not be so pissed?

    Oh, please. Really? ANY anti-illegal alien statement gets the SJW/LaRaza-bully treatment. There’s screaming, gnashing of teeth, marching with Mexican flags, and so on, and so forth, ad nauseam.
    Was Trump indelicate? Oh yes. Impolitic? Definitely. But being those things would NEVER keep this crap from happening when anyone suggests that the government should control our borders or exert sovereignty.

  • OC says:

    This ain’t just about Trump:

    They may not have agreed on whether to skip school, take the day off work or refrain from all commerce today, but the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protestors who turned out in major cities across the country on Monday clearly conveyed their message that immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy and deserve the right to continue living and working here. With rallies in more than 50 cities from Las Vegas to Miami, the day of protest brought together immigrants from all walks of life and appeared to overcome early concerns that rifts within the Latino community would hamper their success.

    TIME – Monday, May 01, 2006

  • ImJustsSaying says:

    What the Grand Rapids Public Schools meant to say was:

    “When a child misses school, for any reason, we miss out on our portion of their federal education funds. We hope that we can count on you to send your child to school each and every day, including Thursday.”

  • Johnny says:

    Immigration, yes – my grandparents came through Ellis Island.
    Illegal aliens living in the US without going through the proper immigration procedure? No.

    Appreciate the fact that someone’s been here for years, but a crime is a crime is a crime. If it’s your only crime, America is compassionate enough to work something out.
    But the crime has to be acknowledged and atoned for.

    If one wants to be an American, free and brave, then they must, someday, start acting like one.

    • Gail Boer says:

      Thanks for reading. You are right and I would love to see the farmers and businesses who happily hired illegals for super low wages be taken to court.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe
Become a Victory Girl!

Are you interested in writing for Victory Girls? If you’d like to blog about politics and current events from a conservative POV, send us a writing sample here.
Ava Gardner
gisonboat
rovin_readhead