Valley businesses affected by ‘Day Without Immigrants’ protests

Various Coachella Valley businesses were shut down Thursday due to the ‘Day Without Immigrants’ protest in opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Some businesses closed voluntarily in solidarity with the protests while others had to shut down like a McDonald’s in Cathedral City which temporarily closed due to its staff walking out. One worker who participated in the walkout said he wanted to make a statement.

“The whole walkout is about immigration and how it affects everybody,” Jimmie Changa said. “It affects everybody no matter what part of the world you’re from.”

Customers expecting to get a meal were instead greeted with a sign that said it was closed. When told about the protest, some customers were sympathetic, others supported Trump’s policies and disagreed with the walk out. Some customers like Samantha White of Cathedral City were not aware a protest had been taking place.

“I was surprised,” she said. “I just came back from another fast food place and they were open just fine and I didn’t realize they were going to be closed.”

The protests were organized on social media nation-wide and was a way to show the importance an immigrant workforce had on American business.

In Coachella, there were rows of businesses that sat empty with doors locked due to the protests. One business, HC Services, a tax preparation service, closed its doors to the public in solidarity with the protests. Lisa Fisher, an owner of the business said she has discussions with her employees during the past three days and decided to allow anyone to get out of work for the day. For the employees that needed to continue working, they worked behind closed doors. Fisher said she understood the immigrant struggle.

“There’s a lot of people that are here right now who did the same thing that I did and they’re working hard taking care of their families, investing.”

She hoped those in the Trump administration could be see the important role immigrants played in the nation’s economy.

“Their contribution is a lot,” Fisher said. “It’s quite a bit and they need to learn that this country is a country of immigrants and it was founded by immigrants.”