CHICAGO (Reuters) - From the streets of New York to the lettuce fields of California, hundreds of thousands of immigrants stayed away from jobs and boycotted stores on Monday, showing their economic clout in a bid to legitimize millions of workers in the United States illegally.
In what organizers called "A Day Without Immigrants," rallies across the country closed hundreds of restaurants, shops and factories. Construction projects were disrupted, day labor jobs went begging, children stayed home from school and waves of humanity poured through city streets.
[...]
Thousands also marched in Mexico in solidarity with their compatriots who make up the bulk of the undocumented immigrants in the United States.
It was not clear what the economic impact of the boycott would be, but the loss may not be as big as the realization that illegal immigrants make up an important part of the economy, said James Glassman, senior economist at JP Morgan.
The AP title reads: Immigrants Demonstrate Economic Clout
Illegal immigrants made their point Monday: Without them, Americans would pay higher prices and a lot of work wouldn't get done.
As nationwide demonstrations thinned the work force in businesses from meat-packing plants to construction sites to behind the counter at McDonald's, economists said there can be no dispute within the context of the contentious immigration issue that the group wields significant clout in the U.S. economy.
"If illegal immigration came to a standstill, it would disrupt the economy," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "It would lead to higher prices for many goods and services, and some things literally would not get done. It would be a major adjustment for our economy, for sure.
I noted in the blogwhore comments that my n'hood is pretty quiet today. A good portion of it is still being built and there is a constant buzz of machinery going here. Not today. Today, it was a ghost town:
That's the foreman's office. There would typically be cars lined up on that side of the road.
Typically there would be workers all over. I mean all over--five or six people per house. Today: no one. I saw all of five workers total.
In the city:
(AP/Don Ryan)
Chicago:
Sacramento:
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
New Orleans:
(AFP/Getty Images/Mario Tama)
Mexico City:
REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar
Denver:
They had an estimated 75,000 people! (REUTERS/Mark Leffingwell)
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