NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: Activists are calling on immigrants to protest President Donald Trump’s tough stance on immigration by staying home from work or school on Thursday, not shopping and not eating out, in an effort to highlight the vital role they play in US society.
“A Day Without Immigrants,” which has been largely driven by word of mouth on social media, arose in response to Trump’s vows to crack down on illegal immigration and his executive order, since suspended by a federal judge, to temporarily block entry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The action follows a series of federal raids last week in which more than 680 people illegally in the country were arrested, raising alarm among immigrant rights’ groups.
“Mr. President, without us and without our contribution this country is paralyzed,” read a poster promoting the protest that was widely shared online.
It is not clear how many people plan to participate in the walkout. With few plans for large-scale rallies, it may be hard to estimate how many ultimately do. But one group that expects to be affected, and is in some cases embracing the cause, is restaurant owners.
Celebrity chef Jose Andres, locked in a legal battle with Trump after backing out of a deal to open a restaurant at the businessman-turned-politician’s new hotel in Washington, said he was supporting the strikers on his staff.
“People that never missed one day of work are telling you they do not want to work on Thursday,” the Spanish-born Andres said in an interview at his restaurant Oyamel, which will be closed on Thursday. “They want to say: ‘Here we are,’ by not showing up. The least I could do was to say: ‘OK, we stand by you.’”
Dozens of restaurants, which rely heavily on immigrant workers, and other businesses in cities such as Philadelphia, New York, Houston and Raleigh, North Carolina, have vowed to shut their doors on Thursday in solidarity with no-show workers.
In New York, the owners of the Blue Ribbon restaurant chain said they would close several eateries despite the economic impact.
“It is really a show of support for our staff, and as a team and a family as a whole,” said co-owner Eric Bromberg.
More than a dozen restaurants in Washington were planning to close on Thursday, according to social media.
“You have millions of Latinos, millions of immigrants, that somehow feel under attack,” Andres said. “They feel like they are being pushed aside. They want to be part of the American dream.”
Protests call for US immigrants to stay home from work, school
Protests call for US immigrants to stay home from work, school
Australia hits Afghan Taliban officials with sanctions, travel bans
- The Taliban has said it respects women’s rights, in line with its interpretation of Islamic law and local custom
- The measures were part of a new Australian government framework that enabled it to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban, targeting the oppression of the Afghan people,” Wong said
SYDNEY: Australia on Saturday imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on four officials in Afghanistan’s Taliban government over what it said was a deteriorating human rights situation in the country, especially for women and girls.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the officials were involved “in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law” in the Taliban-run country.
Australia was one of several nations which in August 2021 pulled troops out of Afghanistan, after being part of a NATO-led international force that trained Afghan security forces and fought the Taliban for two decades after Western-backed forces ousted the Islamist militants from power.
The Taliban, since regaining power in Afghanistan, has been criticized for deeply restricting the rights and freedoms of women and girls through bans on education and work.
The Taliban has said it respects women’s rights, in line with its interpretation of Islamic law and local custom.
Wong said in a statement the sanctions targeted three Taliban ministers and the group’s chief justice, accusing them of restricting access for girls and women “to education, employment, freedom of movement and the ability to participate in public life.”
The measures were part of a new Australian government framework that enabled it to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban, targeting the oppression of the Afghan people,” Wong said.
Australia took in thousands of evacuees, mostly women and children, from Afghanistan after the Taliban retook power in the war-shattered South Asian country, where much of the population now relies on humanitarian aid to survive.
