No work. No school. No shopping. Immigrants plan to strike Thursday

Thousands across the country are expected to protest Thursday against the Trump administration’s immigration stance and the president’s promise to build a wall on the Mexican border, but as of Wednesday evening it was unclear to what extent local residents planned to participate and how much recent sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers might deter any public support of the cause.

The “Day Without Immigrants” strike, which began as a call to action on social media and has no apparent central organizer, urges immigrants of all backgrounds to close their businesses, stay home from work, spend no money and keep their children out of school for the day in an effort to show the economic role they play in the nation.

Information about the boycott was widely circulated on local Facebook pages Wednesday and included a message to President Donald Trump: “To the president: Without us and our contribution this country is paralyzed.” However, it was not known how many local businesses planned to close, how many people planned to stay home from work or how many Beaufort County children might be kept out of school.

A number of people who answered the phones at local Hispanic-owned businesses Wednesday said they did not know about the protest and did not plan to close.

Emerson Martinez, however, a partner at Protector Insurance in Bluffton, said his agency would be closed for the day.

His two children, though, would most certainly being going to school.

“Some parents are not sending their kids,” he said. “I guess they want to make a point. Unfortunately, that’s not how I see it. ... Education is a priority.”

Martinez said it was important for him as an American and as an immigrant from El Salvador to close the agency in a show of support for the boycott and to express unity with the Lowcountry Hispanic community.

“I understand the businesses (closing), and I understand not going to work. I’m showing my kids a different way to handle everything that’s happening.”

Jim Foster, spokesman for the Beaufort County School District, said he knew of only one or two parents who had asked about potential absences Thursday.

“Any absence,” he said, “would be unexcused.”

While no permits have been issued in the county for a public rally or gathering, some Facebook posts indicated that a silent protest might take place mid-morning on the Bluffton Parkway near Simmonsville Road.

Nadia Paez, of Grupo de Apoyo Latino Para Latinos, a support network for Latino residents, said she expected most local protesters would simply stay at home, though.

“I don’t think a lot of people will go out because (they fear) ICE is still around,” she said, referring to raids last week in which 11 men in Beaufort County were detained by ICE on immigration violations.

She also said she’d prefer to see a more organized and formal rally sometime in the future, though, one that includes the proper notification of police and town officials.

“When we do it, we need to do it right.”

Paez, an in-home caretaker and housekeeper, said she plans to stay home for the day, but that Thursday is her regular day off.

She also said she plans to send both of her kids to school Thursday.

“We need to be responsible. Education is important. My daughter (who is in high school) wants to go to college and my little son ... I don’t want to put a lot of things in his head. (When he asked about the protest) I said ‘Don’t worry about it. You go to school.’ ”

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 7:11 PM with the headline "No work. No school. No shopping. Immigrants plan to strike Thursday."