An initiative to carry out a national strike of the immigrant community in the United States, “A day without immigrants”, is circulating on social media. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of this sector in the country's economy. However, opinions for and against are present.
The call is for Monday, February 3, 2025, and all migrants are invited to suspend their work, miss work, school, not shop, or use media and services, in order to generate an economic impact with million-dollar losses. However, controversy has arisen among users, as many do not agree with this movement.
According to the Center for Migration Studies, there were 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States in July 2023, a figure that changed for 2024, since the Department of Homeland Security, In April 2024, the US published a report indicating that by early 2022 there were some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.
In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $1.496 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, the majority of that amount, $1.459 billion, was paid to the federal government, while the remaining $1.437 billion was paid to state and local governments, this According to the Institute for Fiscal and Economic Policy (ITEP),
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy's report shows that undocumented immigrants pay about $$8,889 per person in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, showing that for every million undocumented immigrants residing in the country, public services receive $$8.9 billion in additional tax revenue.
The immigrant community is part of the country's economy, and its importance has been demonstrated in various reports, however, different users have shown apathy towards the initiative of "A day without immigrants."
For some, one day is too little, so they suggest a week or two, however another sector of Internet users considers that it would put their well-being and safety at risk, as they fear losing their jobs or putting themselves in a vulnerable position.
On the other hand, there are those who support and join, with the commitment to demonstrate the importance of migrants for the United States: “Yes! If we all do it, it will have a great impact! I'm in!” reads one comment on Instagram.
Although support and unity are requested, other users have shown themselves to be against the national strike, as they consider their work, paying their rent and avoiding problems to be more important, or they simply show themselves to be against immigrants.
There are endless comments on social media, but it remains to be seen what action the immigrant community will take. If they actually suspend their activities, how many will do so, what impact it will have, and the number of participants. This will determine citizen unity and participation, including for the next calls to action against the measures taken by President Donald Trump.
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