DC-area restaurants close Monday in support of ‘A Day Without Immigrants’

Several businesses in the D.C. area were shutdown Monday as immigrants across the nation protested President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration by not going to work Monday.

The initiative, called “A Day Without Immigrants,” is meant to highlight the importance of immigrants to the nation’s economy and society.

In the D.C. area, several businesses are showing their support by closing for the day, including Republic Cantina in Northwest D.C.

“We are not a terribly political brand,” owner Chris Svetlik told WTOP. “We’re in the business of hospitality. We don’t really use our megaphone to talk about political issues that much.”

Other D.C.-area restaurants that said they are closing for “A Day Without Immigrants” include Centrado Café Shop in Burtonsville, Maryland, and the Maryland taco chain, Tacos El Pariente.

In an Instagram post, Republic Cantina urged people to speak out against “anti-immigrant policy.”

“This is an issue that is quite near and dear to us, and our team, so many people who work on our team — immigrants, asylum-seekers, refugees — they are just truly important members of our community,” Svetlik said.

Svetlik is co-owner of Hill East Burger in Southeast which also closed on Monday.

“Folks work hard. They pay their taxes; they raise their kids here they go to church,” Svetlik said. “Our communities are made a lot stronger with immigrants, and it’s been dismaying to see an increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric.”

Along with a show of support to his team, he said closing was a practical matter.

“If staff are not there, we can’t open the restaurant,” Svetlik said.

He said he learned of the protest through staff, and after an informal vote, the team decided to close Monday.

“I think that, that is the point of the protest, is to make that point clearly, that our hospitality industry, and our construction industry and our farming industry, they don’t work without the labor of immigrants,” Svetlik said.

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Shayna Estulin

Shayna Estulin joined WTOP in 2021 as an anchor/reporter covering breaking news in the D.C. region. She has loved radio since she was a child and is thrilled to now be part of Washington’s top radio news station.

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