What happens on a day without immigrants?

World
Europe

By CGTN’s Wang Duan

A grassroots protest dubbed “A Day Without Immigrants” was held on Thursday in some states in the US. It asked immigrants nationwide not to go to work or school, or even shop. The goal was to push back against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and to show the importance of immigrants.

To some extent young immigrants help to alleviate the ageing problem in the US and there is no doubt that immigrants are not just employees but also job creators.

So what’s the importance of immigrants in the US?

A closed sign at the Nickel Diner restaurant which closed for the day in solidarity with the "Day Without Immigrants" nationwide protests, in Los Angeles, California, on February 16, 2017. /CGTN Photo

“This is not America. America is better than this,” David Leopold, former president of the Washington DC-based American Immigration Lawyers Association told “The Point with Liu Xin,” CGTN’s current affairs show.

He said that the protest was a spontaneous reaction to some of the most mean-spirited immigration policies ever in the country.

Victor Nee, a Frank and Rosa Rhodes Professor of Sociology at Cornell University, however, held a more moderate attitude towards the current situation in the US. He traced back the history of immigrants there and said that this is a period of greater openness to some extent.

Immigration rights activists hold placards during a rally outside of the mayor's office in Washington, DC on February 16, 2017. /CGTN Photo

The argument between the two guests reflected the conflict of public perception in America about immigrants.

The host of the program, Liu Xin, ended the discussion, saying: “We live in a totally interconnected world. For a nation that's made of immigrants, it's bizarre it takes a national day of strikes to remind people of that basic fact.”