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What does a melting pot like America look like without immigrants? Thanks to the nationwide Day Without Immigrants protest on Feb. 16, people across the country can now see for themselves. Foreign-born people across the United States staged walkouts, marches, and other acts of protest by staying home from work and school to combat the Trump administration's extreme immigration agenda [2].
Highlighting the important role that immigrants play in every area of American society, from the financial to the cultural, protest participants let their absence speak even louder than their words. Using #DayWithoutImmigrants on social media, photos and stories of empty desks and workplaces made clear precisely how vital the contributions of immigrants are to daily American life.
Read on for some of the most powerful images from the protest, then learn about several immigration issues [3] facing Americans today.
Bravo to the workers. #daywithoutimmigrants [7]
Day Without Immigrants ✊🏻 | #Detroit #CesarChavezHighSchool #school #immigration #latinos #unite #detroitinsider #detroitproud #detroit_igers #motorcityshooters #rawdetroit #local4 #puredetroit #daywithoutimmigrants #protest #dumptrump [8]
"a day without immigrants" when driving from my house to a library nearby, i passed by 22 businesses that closed up shop today in solidarity with latinos across the states, my family's shop being one of them. i love this all so much. #lovetrumpshate #latinxactivism #latinarebels #adaywithoutimmigrants [9]
Our empty warehouse! #adaywithoutimmigrants [10]
No farmers today at the Farmers Market in support of a Day Without Immigrants #adaywithoutimmigrants #sanfrancisco #farmersmarket #ferrybuilding [11]
What class looks like on #daywithoutimmigrants. #tumbleweeds [12]
What #adaywithoutimmigrants does to my cut shop. No immigrants, no meat. [13]
🙌 #adaywithoutimmigrants [14]
Many businesses at Santee Alley closed for #adaywithoutimmigrants [15]
A day without immigrants. Don't really see it till you see it. #daywithoutimmigrants #feelingit #makethemasterswork [16]
On a "normal" day this room would be filled with my 2nd period class. Today it's empty. I'm feeling very proud that my students and their families decided to protest hate and divisiveness today by participating in "Dia Sin Inmigrantes." #diasininmigrantes #daywithoutimmigrants #kippaustin [17]
This morning I dropped an order off to an empty print shop. #daywithoutimmigrants #daywithoutlatinos #nobannowall #madeinusa - - - #madeinlosangeles #madeincalifornia #local #small batch #slowfashion #adaywithoutimmigrants [18]
It's a Thursday. The sun is shining. We have a ton of work to do. Not a worker in sight. Proud of these men and women for making the sacrifice and making their voices heard. #adaywithoutimmigrants #nobannowallnoraids [19]
#daywithoutimmigrants is surely sending a message across the District. No political advocacy to follow... [20]
This is what happens when you force people to feel scared. People fight back. Today at my school, students who are immigrant or come from immigrant families have decided not to show up in order to show the rest of the US what the country is without them. Only having 3 out of 54 students, and only having an average of 10 children in each classroom are clear evidence that we are tired of oppression and being belittled. We are in this together, and we will not surrender. Today, I am the proudest I've ever been of my students. #Boycott #NorthCarolina #ImmigrantsTogether #DayWithoutImmigrants #DayWithoutAnImmigrant [21]
#adaywithoutimmigrants I'm feeling your absence but I support you 👊🏽 #solidarity ... ... ... ... #immigration #love #daywithoutimmigrants [22]
Carl's shop @cegonyc is empty today. This is where our one-offs, samples, & pattern work is done by uniquely talented people with whom we are lucky to work. The USA is and always will be a country of immigrants. 💥🇺🇸💥#adaywithoutimmigrants #freedom [23]
#pictureday at school conflicted with #daywithoutimmigrants I am missing my students. [24]
Usually my neighborhood is busy with construction but as I take a break to peek out my window, I can't help but notice how quiet it is today. Coincidence? Hmmmm... I'm not getting all political, just a general observation. #adaywithoutimmigrants [25]
Landscape installation of the #ecological schoolyard moving very slow today. The Day Without Immigrants protest left us with a huge plant delivery and no one to plant. I don't need to ask if we can find Americans to do the tough work. I've been in the business for over a decade – we cannot. We rely on immigrants every day in this country, to build infrastructure and farm, and they do it with amazing efficiency and positive attitude. I wholly support our guys in not showing up today. And today, I am more grateful than ever for their incredibly hard work and incomparable skill and attitude. #weneedimmigrants #daywithoutimmigrants #nobannowall #gratitude #ecologicaldesign #sustenancedesign #landscapelover #protest #resist [26]
Lunch Bunch with the 6 students that did show up today! #daywithoutimmigrants [27]
A day without immigrants my local thrift store is cleared out its like a ghost town #ghosttown #adaywithoutimmigrants [28]
If you don't want immigrants here, there's not going to be anyone to cook your pizza. So proud of my staff and store for taking a stand today ✌🏼️🇺🇸 #protest #cpk #takeastand #daywithoutimmigrants [29]
Very quiet on site today. Shout out to all the homies striking today and making a statement. Day in and day out your hard work goes overlooked by many. Not today! ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼#daywithoutimmigrants [30]