Hundreds of protestors including Indians on Monday (local time) pushed for immigration reform with nationwide "Day Without Immigrants" demonstrations on Valentine's Day outside the White House.
The immigrants on February 14 stay out of work and school and skip consumer purchases (do not spend money) to demonstrate their importance in society and their frustration with the lack of systemic federal reform.
The protest was organized to pressure US President Joe Biden into prioritizing protecting immigrants.
The organizers chose Valentine's Day for the protest as on this day as it is one of the biggest sales holidays of the year and it ranks close to Mother's Day, Father's Day and Easter in overall spending.
With consumers expected to spend USD 23.9 billion on Valentine's Day cards, candy, dinners, jewellery and gifts, according to the National Retail Federation, the Washington-based trade association, and data firm Prosper Insights & Analytics.
A Day Without Immigrants seeks to join all immigrants, young and old, recent and established, documented and undocumented, in a push for change. A year after Biden's inauguration, many ground-level organizations and advocates have grown enormously dismayed over the administration's failure to turn promises into reality.
Biden had earlier in February 2021, promised to create a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people in the United States.
National "A Day Without Immigrants" rallies have been held periodically since 2006.
It gained importance after former protest President Donald Trump's plans to build a border wall and to potentially deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
( With inputs from ANI )
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