More than 100 restaurants and dozens of other businesses in cities across the United States have shut their doors for a day as part of a walkout protest against President Donald Trump's policies on immigrants.
Dubbing the protest as "A Day Without Immigrants," activists have urged immigrants to stay home from work, avoid shopping and eating out, and skip classes in an effort to highlight how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life.
The walkouts were taking place in cities that include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, Chicago, and New York.
The protests were organized and promoted on social media in response to Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and his executive order, put on hold by federal courts, that temporarily banned travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Trump said on February 16 that he will issue a new executive order next week on immigration, saying it is needed to "protect the country."
Immigrant rights' groups expressed alarm after more than 680 people illegally in the country were arrested in federal raids last week.
