Protesters march, businesses close in Philly for 'day without ...

Several businesses across the country – including in Philadelphia – participated in a “day without immigrants” on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

The campaign called on immigrants to not go to work, not attend schools and not spend any money on businesses in order to show how important immigrants are to the country’s economy.

Monday afternoon in Philadelphia, several businesses were closed in solidarity with the nationwide protests, including Braza’s BBQ Chicken, a Peruvian restaurant in South Philadelphia.

“Us, the immigration population, we are part of the backbone of the economy of the country,” Juan Andres Placencia, the owner of Braza’s, told NBC10.

Placencia said it was a difficult financial decision to close but a necessary one to honor his family.

“It gives us an opportunity to demonstrate our numbers,” he said. “Demonstrate what it really means to not have immigrants as part of the U.S. economy. As workers. As people that offer job opportunities to others."

While business owners closed for the day, other protesters marched from 9th Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia to City Hall in Center City.

“If we are not buying, participating actually, you will see that those offices aren’t clean,” Ana Victoria Sandoval, a member of the immigration rights group Juntos, told NBC10. “The floors aren’t clean. They are going to be running low because that is us that are bringing it to the table.”

The protest occurred amid recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and operations across the U.S. under President Trump’s new administration.

“I feel like it’s something that shouldn’t happen,” Luis Ojeda of Juntos told NBC10. “All we can do is pray for the best.”

Monday's protest was peaceful and there were no reports of injuries or arrests. Organizers of the protest said they’re planning on holding another demonstration in the near future.

The nationwide rally occurred less than a week after an ICE operation at a car wash in Philadelphia’s Juniata Park neighborhood. Juntos members said at the time that a total of seven people were detained during the raid.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration touted deportation efforts and published new rules making it easier to remove people — part of a flurry of actions to make good on campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

Many of ICE's recent actions have not been unusual. Under the Biden administration, ICE averaged 311 daily arrests in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. President Joe Biden also sent active-duty troops to the border in 2023, and numerous administrations have sent National Guard troops to assist Customs and Border Protection.

However, rumors of arrests and news reports or social media posts about the presence of agents sparked worries in communities around the country. Some rights groups launched plans to protect immigrants in the event of arrests at schools or workplaces, including in Philadelphia.