‘Day Without Immigrants’ protest closes restaurants, shops in Utah and U.S.

The heart of Philadelphia's Italian Market was uncommonly quiet. Fine restaurants in New York, San Francisco and the nation's capital closed for the day. Grocery stores, food trucks, coffee shops and taco joints in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston to Salt Lake City, Ogden and Midvale shut down.

Immigrants around the U.S. stayed home from work and school Thursday to demonstrate how important they are to America's economy and way of life, and many businesses closed in solidarity, in a nationwide protest called A Day Without Immigrants.

The boycott was aimed squarely at President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on immigration, legal and illegal, by such means as a wall at the Mexican border. Organizers said they expected thousands to participate or otherwise show support.

The protest even reached into the U.S. Capitol, where a Senate coffee shop was among the eateries that were closed as employees did not show up at work.

The day's activities also included rallies in several cities.

Jodi and Jesus Perez, owners of Prime Auto Inc., closed their Salt Lake City business for the day. "Every single person that you have had contact with at Prime Auto is an immigrant," Jodi Perez wrote on the company's Facebook page. "I am so proud of them for their determination to come here for a better life. They have left many loved ones in Mexico and Venezuela, but they had dreams to make a better life, and I'm glad we can help."

Many food-related businesses in Utah also closed, including Beto's Mexican Food in Ogden and Clearfield, and Salt Lake City's Mestizo Coffee and Rancho Markets.

Shane Kemple, a Salt Lake City resident who was turned away from the Rancho Market at 140 N. 900 West by a sign on the door, supports the protest.

"I think that's very American of them," said Kemple. "That's what you're supposed to do."

Humberto Saldana, who manages two Metro PCS locations that were closed Thursday in protest, said being part of the protest gave him a sense of solidarity, and that in closing his stores, he supported immigrants and the nation.

Immigrants are "part of the economy, no matter what," said Saldana.

"Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, his recently halted immigration ban, and his promise to pass more aggressive deportation policies, are harmful to our Latino and immigrant communities," Mestizo owners wrote on social media. "These communities make up an indispensable part of our economy. We will not stand by idly while we are belittled and our voices are quieted."

Music teacher Gabino Flores canceled his lessons for the day and stayed home from his Salt Lake City school, which he declined to name because he wasn't sure how the administration would react to his participation.

The protest is "just the beginning," said the U.S. citizen who emigrated from Mexico, and there is a misunderstanding between "American community and the Hispanic community" that needs to be talked about.

"We're not in a war, but we have to change things," he said. "The change is in us."

Marcela Ardaya-Vargas, who is from Bolivia and now lives in Falls Church, Va., pulled her son out of school to take him to a Day Without Immigrants march in Washington.

"When he asked why he wasn't going to school, I told him because today he was going to learn about immigration," she said, adding: "Our job as citizens is to unite with our brothers and sisters."

Organizers appealed to immigrants from all walks of life to take part, but the effects were felt most strongly in the restaurant industry, which has long been a first step up the economic ladder for newcomers to America with its many jobs for cooks, dishwashers and servers.

Expensive restaurants and fast-food joints alike closed across the country. Sushi bars, Brazilian steakhouses, Mexican eateries and Thai and Italian restaurants turned away lunchtime customers.

On Ninth Street in South Philadelphia's Italian Market, it was so quiet in the morning that Rani Vasudeva thought it might be Monday, when many of the businesses on the normally bustling stretch are closed.

Produce stands and other stalls along "Calle Nueve" — as 9th Street is more commonly known for its abundance of Mexican-owned businesses — stood empty, leaving customers to look elsewhere for fresh meat, bread, fruits and vegetables.

"It's actually very sad," said Vasudeva, a 38-year-old professor at Temple University. "You realize the impact the immigrant community has. We need each other for our daily lives."

At a White House news conference held at the same time as the lunch-hour protests, Trump boasted of his border security measures and immigration arrests of hundreds of people in the past week, saying, "We are saving lives every single day."

Since the end of 2007, the number of foreign-born workers employed in the U.S. has climbed by nearly 3.1 million to 25.9 million; they account for 56 percent of the increase in U.S. employment over that period, according to the Labor Department.

The foreign born — who include American citizens, green-card holders and those working without legal authorization — tend to be younger and to take jobs in fields that have been growing fastest, including restaurants, hotels and stores.

About 12 million people are employed in the restaurant industry, and immigrants make up the majority — up to 70 percent in places like New York and Chicago, according to the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which works to improve working conditions. An estimated 1.3 million in the industry are immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, the group said.

The construction industry, which also employs large numbers of immigrants, was also affected.

Shea Frederick, who owns a small construction company in Baltimore, showed up at 7 a.m. at a home he is renovating and was surprised to find that he was alone, with a load of drywall ready for install. He soon understood why: His crew, five immigrants, called to say they weren't coming to work. They were joining the protests.

"I had an entire day of full work," he said. "I have inspectors lined up to inspect the place, and now they're thrown off, and you do it the day before the weekend and it pushes things off even more. It sucks, but it's understandable."

Frederick said that while he fundamentally agrees with the action, and appreciates why his crew felt the need to participate, he feels his business is being made to suffer as a result of the president's policies.

"It's hurting the wrong people," he said. "A gigantic part of this state didn't vote this person in, and we're paying for his terrible decisions."

In New Mexico, the state with the largest percentage of Hispanics, school officials said hundreds of students might stay home.

Many people who skipped work will lose a day's pay or worse, and many student absences will not be excused. But organizers argued that the cause is worth the sacrifice.

"They are tired of their communities being criminalized," said Olivia Vazquez, a 22-year-old community organizer and a Mexican immigrant living in the U.S. illegally. "They're ready to fight back."

In New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood, whose Latino population swelled after the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 created lots of jobs for construction workers, the Ideal Market was closed.

The place is usually busy at midday with people lining up at the steam tables for hot lunches or picking from an array of fresh Central American vegetables and fruits.

In Chicago, Pete's Fresh Market closed five of its 12 grocery stores and assured employees they would not be penalized for skipping the day, according to owner Vanessa Dremonas, whose Greek-immigrant father started the company.

"It's in his DNA to help immigrants," she said. "We've supported immigrants from the beginning."

Carmen Solis, a Mexico-born U.S. citizen, took the day off from work as a project manager and brought her two children to a rally in Chicago.

"I feel like our community is going to be racially profiled and harassed," she said of Trump's immigration policies. "It's very upsetting. People like to take out their anger on the immigrants, but employers are making profits off of them."

Among the well-known establishments that closed their doors in solidarity were three of acclaimed chef Silvana Salcido Esparza's restaurants in Phoenix; Michelin star RASA in San Francisco; and two Washington restaurants run by chef Jose Andres — Oyamel and Jaleo.

Tony and Marie Caschera, both 66, who were visiting Washington from Halfmoon, New York, thought a tapas restaurant looked interesting for lunch, but then realized the lights were off and the place was closed.

"I'm in support of what they're trying to say," said Marie Caschera, a registered Democrat, adding that immigrants are "fearful for their communities."

Her husband, a registered Republican whose family emigrated from Italy before World War II, said he supports legal immigration, but added: "I don't like illegal aliens here."

— Associated Press reporter Errin Haines Whack contributed to this story.