'A Day without Immigrants' in Michigan

Yesterday was "A Day without Immigrants," another series of protests against Trump's executive orders restricting immigration.  Protests happened all over the country, including here in Michigan.  WOOD-TV reported on the effect of the demonstrations both in Grand Rapids and throughout the country in ‘Day Without Immigrants’ demonstrators march in metro GR.

An estimated 1,500 people marched in metro Grand Rapids Thursday as part of the national “Day Without Immigrants” demonstration.

Detroit had its own protest, which WXYZ documented in Restaurants shut down in protest of Trump admin immigration policies.


The march wasn't as large as Grand Rapids, but it was big enough.

In addition to the protests above, there were demonstrations in Pontiac, restaurants closed in Ypsilanti, and farm labor work stoppages throughout rural Michigan.  That last one showed how important immigrant labor is for agriculture.  WDIV listed other economic sectors where immigrant workers perform much of the labor.

In 2015, 7.1 million U.S. restaurant workers were immigrants. In 2014, 1.1 million of those workers were undocumented, according to a PEW Research study. Only the construction industry has more undocumented workers than the restaurant industry.

I don't think Trump or his supporters really know what they're doing to America when they mess with immigration.

P.S. About the sign I used to illustrate this entry, I know Marla Maples was not an immigrant, but she had the briefest marriage of any of Trump's wives, which still supports the point that Trump also needs immigrants to do things that native-born Americans won't.