A Day Without Immigrants 2025 Happening Tomorrow And Everything Else

Take A Deep Breath, There's A Lot Going On

One of my friends of Hispanic/Latino origin sent me a video on Instagram roughly four days ago about February 3rd and a call for supporters of immigrants, and descendants thereof, to hold a general strike - not going to work, school, or shopping.

Here is one of the flyers being circulated on social media:

The problem? There is a lot going on, and this particular Day Without Immigrants seems to have a smaller reach than previous years. When using a basic Internet search to find out more information, I mostly found TikTok videos, and short articles referencing it from the East and West Coast, but not in Texas or the midwest. Additionally, a blog from BrownRock, a Community Development Corporation, discussed the movement on January 29th and was linked in a couple of Instagram reels spreading the word.

It is pretty easy to participate, if you are so inclined, tomorrow. Even if you have to work, you can refrain from participating in the economy as simply as by not buying anything tomorrow. Guidance from influencers included using public transportation if you must travel, don’t eat out or order food, and don’t order any other goods online either.

However, general strikes like this require a high level of participation to make an impact on the economy to be leveraged in negotiations, are more effective when there are multiple mutual aid groups to assist more vulnerable people to participate, and when there are leaders advocating for specific changes.

I would like to stress that it is not necessarily broad opposition from the general populace against every new policy, but with how certain policies are getting executed and enforced. If the Administration is going to issue hundreds of Executive Orders in the first two weeks of this term, then it is not surprising that the people broadly are going to react quickly as well.

In order to maintain peace and stability, harnessing this energy to act to be more organized and deliberate is key.

What Else Is Going On Right Now

In the immediate future, aside from the call for a general strike tomorrow, there are peaceful protests being called for on February 5th that go beyond immigration issues that have generated interest within more states and definitely overlap with the February 3rd call to action.

This weekend, on Sunday February 2nd, there were multiple small to moderate sized protests across the country. Cities included San Diego and Dallas, and one of the largest protests took place in Los Angeles. I do not currently have a lot of details or information on how these have played out.

There is also an aspiring general strike (more info at generalstrikeus.com) with no date set yet, being planned at a larger level, and multiple groups encouraging creation of local community support groups.

Does This Accomplish Anything

The first amendment is one of the most under appreciated tools to advocate for the will of the people when representatives are facing lobby and billionaire threats and pressure to capitulate to controversial policy proposals, nominations, agency changes, and executive orders. Friendly reminder of the exact text:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In the case of immigration enforcement, I see the following as what I would recommend as top 3 priorities (and I am not an expert in this field, and would defer to others for more well-written goals):

1. Restraint of ICE in the execution of their duties. Cease violations of the 4th Amendment, unreasonable search and seizure, in their enforcement of immigration laws. Hold accountable and when necessary, suspend and fire officers who are found to be violating the rights of Americans.

2. When programs that provided paths for legal citizenship are suspended and ended, provide a grandfather period of people in the middle of those processes, and allow them to complete their path to legal citizenship. While recognizing the authority of the government to end certain programs, law-abiding residents who have positively contributed to the nation have earned the right to complete that process.

3. Halt the refurbishment of Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility to house 30,000 deportees, as not only a waste of taxpayers’ money, but also lacking transparency for what type of immigration law violators are going to be sent there and what the long-term plan known to the public is for such a facility.

In the coming days and weeks, I hope to cover specific topics in more depth where I see gaps in media coverage; but wanted to get something out today on my newly rebranded Substack before A Day Without Immigrants tomorrow.