Today’s Immigration Rights ProtestsGail Heriot

Today’s threatened economic boycott doesn’t seem to have had the effect its organizers had hoped for.  The nation wasn’t exactly brought to its knees.  And that’s probably a good thing for all concerned.  Whoever thought such a boycott would gain sympathy for the immigration rights movement must have been delusional.  The result would likely have been just the opposite.  (One acquaintance of mine argued that the public schools, public hospitals and government agencies that provide taxpayer-financed services to illegal immigrants should engage in an equal and opposite work stoppage, and the country wait to see which side cries “uncle” first.  I suspect his reaction is more common than the reaction boycott organizers were hoping for.)

At the same time, however, the day was hardly a bust for the organizers.  Protests were held across the country, and some were quite large.  (See, e.g., Chicago and Los Angeles.)  If you’re wondering how so many people were able to take off work for the protest, I’ve got part of the answer. Here at USD (a Catholic school) all employees received a message from the president that said, “We urge … supervisors to exercise compassion in considering employee requests for accrued time off to participate in [immigration-related events on May 1st].”