Activists are calling for a national shutdown Friday to protest ICE’s aggressive immigration enforcement. The call to action: no work, no school, and no shopping.
The campaign opposes the administration’s immigration crackdowns, which in Minneapolis have cost Alex Pretti and Renee Good their lives. “Every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!” the campaign said.
The January 30 shutdown has been endorsed by over 27 organizations across the country, including the Minnesota Immigrant Movement, LA Tenants Union, Black Lives Matter Grassroots Detroit, and locally, at George Washington University Socialist Action Initiative and Mariposas Immigrantes DC.
Here’s what we know about the shutdown in the DC area: A number of area businesses plan to observe the strike and show their solidarity through boycotts, closures, donations, or other actions.
Additionally, the Party for Socialism and Liberation will hold a rally at the Gallery Place–Chinatown Metro at 3 PM today, with other rallies sprinkled across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Several businesses in Mount Pleasant, which has a large Latino community, are also expected to observe by donating proceeds to Ayuda, an immigration-advocacy nonprofit in DC.
Here are businesses in the DC area that have said they’ll close for the general strike. We’ll refresh the list throughout the day.
DC-area establishments that are closed today:
Bold Fork Books
Domestique Wine
Doubles DC
Fantom Comics
L’Enfant Gallery
Lost City Books
Penny Post
Pippin Toy Co.
Red Barn Mercantile
Salt and Sundry
Shop Made in DC
Snappy’s Small Bar
Solid State Books DC
Spot of Tea
Steadyfast Supply
Establishments that have pledged to donate proceeds from today:
Beau Thai
Cielo Rojo
Dua DC Coffee
Each Peach Market
Ellē
El Tamarindo
Grand Cata
Haydees Restaurant
Jane Jane
Joia Burger
La Tejana
The Little Grand
Martha Dear
Marx Cafe
MDI Ice Cream
Maydan
Nido
OKPB
Past Tense Yoga
Pollo Sabroso
Purple Patch
Red Hound Pizza
Republic Cantina
Taqueria Xochi
Vigilante Coffee
Wonderland Books
Yellow the Cafe
Places that are open and supporting in other ways:
Friends to Lovers Bookstore (offering resources to contact congress members as well as donating)
Hot Yoga Capitol Hill (free classes)
Material Things Studio (open to pre-registered classes, but closed to purchases)
The Green Zone (happy hour and drink specials all night, as well as donating)
Jenae Barnes previously reported and fact-checked for Capital B Gary in Indiana, 5280 Magazine in Denver, Forbes in New York and ABC News in Washington, D.C. She is a 2024 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. As a DC-area native, she received her Bachelor’s from George Mason University and Master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.
