A Churo shop in Pilsen closed its doors on Monday. So there was a Mexican grocery items in Chicago Heights. The owner of several Mexican restaurants in Elgin, the son of the immigrants themselves, closed their business for the day as well.
As the immigrant communities in Chicagoland entered the third week of fear and uncertainty in the shadow of the immigration crack of President Donald Trump, some business owners and workers from Elgin to Chicago Heights on Monday took action: they shut down their business Diya and stay home from work. The goal was to send a message about the contributions made by immigrants to his communities and local economies.
The closing was a national “day without day,” was part of a protest movement, spread on social media, which encouraged immigrants and members of their communities to stay home from work and school and promises of Trump’s biggest exile. Operation in the history of the United States, which has been avoiding shopping in protest, has caught the immigrant communities of Chicago-region in fear for the last two weeks. Due to this protest, trade in cities from San Francisco to New York was closed across the country.
Adolfo “Junior” Bello, owner of a small Mexican restaurant series of El Fero, was one of the local business owners who closed their doors on Monday. He told the tribune that he was closing his restaurant in support of the immigrant community.
“We are here for them. We feel their pain, “Bello said, whose parents came to Chicago from Guanajuato and Michoacan, Mexico.
Bello’s parents opened their first restaurant in 1984. He and his seven brothers -in -law waited for all the tables, chose the produce, washed dishes and shook Tomatillos for the establishment of the family. Bello, now 46, took over business at the age of 19, he said.
Through running the restaurant, he said that he has seen for the first time how many people are living inside due to Trump’s immigration crack. Bello said the closing of the restaurant was a statement of solidarity. In the long run, he expects an overhaul of the immigration system.
“Many of our customers have been here forever. I really do not know their position, but we know they are scared. His family members are scared, ”he said. “We also have family members who are not legal. They are hiding. ,
In Pilsen, David Fernandez closed his printing business, Concord Press.
Fernandez, who is also a board member at the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce, says he is one of dozens of businesses that he knows about being closed in the neighborhood on Monday.
“The 18th street is empty, no leg is traffic. I counted 34 closed businesses in a 2-mile drive on 18th street between Damon and Halstead, “Fernandez said,” Looking that many businesses have indications on their doors on their doors.
Nubia Chavez, owner of Mexican Grill and Bar Polo Locos in Blue Island, said she feels that almost all Hispanic businesses in Blue Island were closed for the day.
Chavez, who opened the Polo Locos 24 years ago, came to the US from Mexico at 15 am to provide jobs for his brothers and sisters.
After living in the US without a document for 10 years before receiving her green card, Chavez said she understands the fear of catching the community in the US without legal permission.
“I was one of them 35 years ago, so I know the feeling,” he said.
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, some Chicago-region activists stay home from their jobs in fear, scared ice may arrest at their workplaces. On Monday, some people stayed at home in disregard.
Representatives of some local workers’ centers and labor unions told the tribune that they knew about the protest but did not support it. Some said that they did not know about their members that they participate in protest, not showing to work.
But Marocos Seniseros, Executive Director, Warehouse Workers for Justice, said that a significant number of local warehouses workers decided to stay away from the job. About 100 workers in a warehouse in suburban Franklin Park, which were refused by Senicaros, decided to stay at home, he said. So some workers did in other suburban godowns, he said.
Workers, some of whom have been here for decades, feel disappointed with anti-migrant rhetoric and the tasks experienced in the last week.
Last week, warehouse workers for the Justice said, “Several suburban warehouses were visited by the federal immigration officers, which shook the workers, although most of the warehouses did not allow the agents to go inside and only one person was arrested.” The ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comments about immigration enforcement in the suburbs last week.
“They want the company they work for and the places where they shop they are feeling the disappointment that they are feeling,” Ceniceros said.
Christobal Cavazos, Executive Director of the immigrant solidarity dupage, who operates a Workers Center in Wehon, said that most of the workers who belong to the Center did not work on Monday. Instead, he said, the group held a rally and march in West Chicago.
The group’s communication and finance director Shelli Ruzika said that Chicago, who woke up the Workers Center, did not participate in protest. He said that Arise was worried that participating workers could be vengerated by their employers.
“Employers can take advantage of this as a manner of fire workers. … so if someone is doing (action), they should do it in a collective manner – communicate with your employers, “he said.
Immigrant Illinois makes an important part of the labor force. According to the American Immigration Council, about 14% of the Illinois population is foreign.
Immigrant makes a slightly more part of the labor force of the state, with more than 1.1 million immigrant workers to make 17.6% workforce. According to the Pew Research Center, 300,000 members of the Illinois workforce are unspecified.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiters said in a statement, “Chicago has always been a city of immigrant workers, regardless of the situation.” Reiters stated that the labor organization stands with businesses and workers in protest against Trump’s immigration agenda, which he described as a “deep worker”.
“Non -residents work in every region of our economy and every part of the city,” he said.
Experts have raised the alarm bell about the widespread impact of the widespread impact of workers in the US, which can be not only on immigrant families but also on the economy.
According to researchers at the Center for Migration Studies, immigrants in the country paid more than $ 96 billion in taxes in 2022 without legal permission. If businesses cannot fill the job due to large scale exile, prices may increase, experts have warned. And if people in America are not earning money illegally, then they will not put their wages back into the local economy, they said.
Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jam de Paulo said that he understands the impulse behind Monday’s opposition, but is worried that it can hurt immigrant communities. A Mexican immigrant, de Paulo said that he knows that his community is scared and people feel the need to take action.
But in this protest, mostly seemed to include shuttering of Latin -owned businesses, Di Paulo said.
“I feel as if the effect is only happening in our communities,” he said.
In Gauge Park, Tire Shop owner Martin Cruz said that he has seen the influence of immigration policies on his business for the first time, and is a difficult time assuming them that a crack on immigration will do anything but will hurt the economy. He stopped his business for the day.
Cruise, who lives in Bolingbrook, came to the United States from Mexico in 1981. He said that he has a green card.
He recalls the Immigration Reforms and Control Act passed by the Congress in 1986 – which gave people the status of valid permanent residence in the US without legal permission. This helped in his business, he said, because it expanded the pool of car buyers.
“Giving benefits to immigrants and creating legal routes helps promote development,” he said.
Many customers of the cruise are here without legal permission in the gauge park tire shop, he said. He works every day, even on weekends, to provide his services to those who work irregular hours.
Since the targeted immigration enforcement operation began in Chicago, Kruz said, he has seen the shops around their business have been shut down sporadically. He said that people are only necessary that is necessary.
Cruz has four step children, 19 grandchildren and five perpses and said he never imagined that it would be his reality.
“They are living in a city where their neighbors are afraid of going out,” he said.