How ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ played out at some Beaufort County businesses

Customers pulled on the door of La Casita Supermarket & Taqueria on Thursday afternoon only to find it locked with a note in Spanish taped to the door.

The sign, roughly translated, said the market was closed in support of “A Day Without Immigrants” and that it would resume normal hours Friday. It thanked customers for their understanding and support.

The closure of the business, like some others in Beaufort County on Thursday, was a response to President Donald Trump’s immigration stance and a collective attempt by immigrants across the nation to boycott work, school and commercialism to demonstrate their effect on the economy and the community.

Amid protests on Bluffton Parkway and closed Hispanic restaurants, business owners and employees around Beaufort County shared what “A Day Without Immigrants” was like for the local economy.

Of 30 employees scheduled to work for Bruno Landscape & Nursery on Dillon Road on Hilton Head Island on Thursday, only 16 showed up, said Jenna Hull, a manager at the landscaper company.

Despite being short-staffed, Hull said the company respected their workers’ decision and said there was a reason employees felt it was important enough to stay home.

“It’s an important day for them,” she said. “... There are days that are important to us.”

When asked whether employees who missed work would be reprimanded, Hull said the landscaper didn’t intend to punish employees who participated in the protest.

“These are all really reliable employees, and they’ve all been with us for a really long time,” she said.

The workforce at Bruno Landscape consists of a mix of immigrants and natural citizens, Hull said, but a majority of the staff are Hispanic. She said it’s likely other businesses in the industry felt the effects of the protest as well.

“I’m sure a majority of the local landscaping companies and construction companies are going through the same thing,” she said.

David Reeves, president of Resort Services Inc., said he’d recently addressed tardiness and absenteeism with his employees — but not because of today’s demonstration.

“I didn’t even know about it,” Reeves said Thursday morning as he stood in the lobby of his business located on Buck Island Road in Bluffton.

Resort Services supplies linens and handles laundry for the hospital and hospitality industries, he said, adding that his company has 320 customers stretching from Brunswick, Ga., to Charleston.

Reeves had 95 workers scheduled Thursday, he said, an uptick over recent numbers. He said he’d not seen anyone staying home from work and described the day as normal.

When asked if his company employed Hispanic and Latino immigrants, Reeves said, yes, but “not a large number.”

“Everyone here as been e-verified,” he said. “We don’t have any illegal immigrants working here.”

North of the Broad River, La Nopalera, a Mexican restaurant, was open Thursday, but an employee who did not want to be identified said customers had been calling all morning to ask if the business was closed. She said she considered participating in the boycott but decided to work when she arrived at the restaurant and saw other staff working.

At RCH Construction Inc. on Hilton Head Island, 22 of 32 scheduled workers Thursday are immigrants, owner Hugh Hobus said. All 22 were at work.

“(The protest) hasn’t affected my company at all,” he said.

Hobus, who said he supports his workers and those who choose to protest, said his employees discussed “A Day Without Immigrants” and decided as a collective whether to go to work. He said they were making the choice together because, if only a few people didn’t show up to work, it wouldn’t make as much of a difference.

“I think it’s a nice, peaceful way to protest,” he said, “(and) get your feelings or thoughts across.”

Southern Beaufort County historically has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, according to Charlie Clark of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. In an email, Clark said finding skilled workers is a challenge for all businesses, which is why they should be valued.

“The chamber values our businesses and the workforce they employ, both immigrants and nonimmigrants,” she said. “It’s the value provided by our entire workforce, regardless of whether you’re an immigrant, a native islander or a transplant from elsewhere in the U.S., that ensures the success of our region.”

When Alfonso Ribot, president of the Metropolitan Savannah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, talks to local businesses in the Hispanic community, he hears the same thing from community members. They talk about their fear and of dealing with misconceptions of who they are.

That misconception, he said, is that some in the South assume Hispanics, foreigners and immigrants who can’t or only haltingly speak English are residing in the country illegally.

“We’re trying to educate people ... that just because someone doesn’t speak the English language, doesn’t mean they’re an illegal immigrant or not a citizen,” he said.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "How ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ played out at some Beaufort County businesses."