Restaurants in cities such as Aurora, Colorado, St. Paul, Minnesota, Chicago, and San Francisco are also observing the nationwide protest.

Pearl’s Bagels, located in downtown D.C., shared its participation in the protest in an Instagram story on Sunday.

“A day without immigrants is a day without bagels,” Pearl’s Bagels posted. “Our staff will receive a paid day off in order to make their voices heard and stress the importance of immigrants to our community and local economy.”

Another restaurant, Republic Cantina, also shared its plan to close in an Instagram story.

“DC depends deeply on immigrants, who work vital jobs in our local economy, pay taxes & make the city a vibrant place to live,” Republic Cantina posted to Instagram on Sunday. “We’ve been dismayed to see the rollout of policies that tear immigrants from their homes — which is both inhumane & will cause massive harm to communities and to small business.”

Other DMV restaurants, including Hiraya, La Pupuseria, Tacos El Pariente, Centrado Cafe Shop, and others, also confirmed they would be closed on Monday in protest.

A “Day Without Immigrants” first took place on Feb. 16, 2017, during the first Trump administration.

Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. food service workers in the United States are immigrants, and it is estimated that 12% of food prep workers and servers are illegally residing in the U.S., according to PolicyLink.

It is estimated that 11,500 illegal immigrants are employed in D.C., according to a 2022 report from the Center for Migration Studies.

“We’re being demonized and portrayed as criminals — and that immigrants come here to live off others. We need to remind people that those narratives are super false, super dangerous,” a D.C. restaurant chef, who was once undocumented, shared with the Washingtonian. “They threaten the safety, well-being, and opportunities for hardworking people that live here without documentation.” 

However, the Center for Public Integrity found that illegal immigrants working in the U.S. are often underpaid and the biggest victims of wage theft by their employers.

For instance, Jessica Lorena Rangel, manager of the Community Consultation Legal Center within Fe y Justicia Worker Center, located in Houston, Texas, shared with the Center for Public Integrity in 2021 that it received 540 calls accusing employers of failing to pay at least $1.36 million in wages. Houston is home to at least half a million illegal immigrants who work in construction, dry cleaning, and landscaping.

“Employers fill their minds with stuff, like telling them: ‘You can’t do anything about me. You have to suck it up because of your status. You’re not even supposed to be working. I’m doing you a favor,’ ” Rangel said. 

Center for Public Integrity said it’s important that the U.S. enact a more streamlined approach for immigrants to live in the U.S. legally so that they can receive proper protection under labor laws.

A 2016 National Academy of Sciences report found that immigration is a key portion of the national labor population “integral to the nation’s economic growth.”

“If the American economy grows and requires more workers both to replace those who retire and to create new firms and industries, the primary source of labor will be first and second-generation immigrants,” says the report.