Washington Sees Scattered Participation in Boycott

Thousands of Immigrants March in Cities Across the Nation

Washington area immigrants do not appear to be heeding the call for a national economic boycott in overwhelming numbers today, although some businesses have closed because employees are absent and some public schools are reporting high absentee rates among Hispanic students.

In other cities across the United States, however, large groups of predominantly Hispanic immigrants took to the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Los Angeles and Chicago. Smaller numbers appeared to have rallied in New York, Atlanta and other large cities. Some large companies said they had to close plants because some of their immigrant workers took the day off.

In the Washington region, leaders of immigrant groups said the real impact of the boycott would not be fully known until later this afternoon or evening.

Anecdotal accounts -- and earlier interviews with advocates who were divided over whether immigrants should participate in the boycott -- suggested that while some were staying home from work, their action was not widespread.

More than half the construction workers on projects at Washington Dulles International Airport did not show up for work today, airport spokesperson Tara Hamilton said. She said work continued on all projects, but in a limited manner.

In Montgomery County, 48 percent of the Hispanic students at Col. Zak Magruder High in Rockville were absent today, a spokesman for the public school system said. In Prince William County, more than half of the Hispanic students at Stonewall Jackson High in Manassas did not come to school. Fairfax County schools reported higher than usual absenteeism. District schools said attendance was normal.

This afternoon, a march was planned to begin at Malcolm X Park in the District. Only a few hundred people showed up.

The impact on the local restaurant industry has been "all over the board," said Lynne Breaux, president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.

For some restaurants, it's business as usual, she said. Other restaurants have used contingency plans, asking chefs and managers to pull double duty to make sure they were fully staffed.

But some restaurants were forced to close, including La Chaumiere in Georgetown, a Wendy's in Arlington and a Corner Bakery in downtown Washington.

In the District's heavily immigrant Mount Pleasant neighborhood, about half the shops and businesses were closed for at least part of the day.

Some local activists had predicted that thousands would participate in today's boycott, which asks immigrants to refrain from buying goods and to stay home from work and school. But immigrant groups who have spoken out against the action said they fear that the immigration reform movement is being commandeered to promote political causes beyond immigration.