Bay Area Businesses Close For 'Day Without Immigrants' Protest
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- Several Bay Area businesses have closed their doors Thursday as part of the national "A Day Without Immigrants" protests against President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
Organizers urged immigrants across the country Thursday to skip class, skip work and to avoid shopping, in an effort to show how important they are to the U.S. economy.
Chavez Supermarket has decided to close all 10 of their Bay Area locations for the day, while the owners of Gazzali's Supermarket closed all five of their Oakland stores.
A number of restaurants big and small are staying closed, Miss Ollies and Cosecha in Oakland, Saffron in San Carlos, along with La Michoacana ice cream in Sonoma Valley and Novato.
Half Moon Bay Brewing company announced their closure in a Facebook post.
Cory McCollow, who owns Nido Restaurant near Jack London Square in Oakland with his wife Silvia, told KCBS why they were closing for the day. "Nido is what Nido is because of our staff and they are mostly immigrants," McCollow said.
"Silvia is a first generation American from a family of immigrants, and we felt that one day of not being open, not having revenue paled in comparison to the importance of making a statement and standing behind all of our staff," McCollow went on to say.
Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa is the epicenter of Latino businesses in Sonoma County. Marcos Suarez, diversity program manager of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board, detailed the closures there.
"Pretty much all of the businesses there are closing. Camacho's Market, La Texanita, the food trucks," Suarez told KCBS. "Lola's Market, they have seven locations throughout Sonoma County, and they're one of the biggest. It really was a snowball effect, everybody got behind this movement."
Rancho Mendoza Super Mercado in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol is also closed in Sonoma County.
