Spokane businesses offer messages of support for immigrants amidst nationwide strike

While Friday was business as usual for most Spokane businesses, a handful either closed or remained open with a message of support for immigrant communities or a condemnation of Immigration Customs Enforcement as part of a nationwide strike.

Great Harvest Spokane was closed Friday, posting to Facebook that it was “joining a broader movement of Americans who are choosing not to work, not to shop, and not to go to school in solidarity with those courageously protesting recent federal immigration enforcement actions and the tragic deaths connected to those operations.”

Bakery administration did not immediately return request for comment Friday, but their sentiment was shared by others in the Spokane business world.

Ruins Restaurant was among the crowd of those “open but supportive of the strike.” Owner Tony Brown said his employees are not all in a position where they can afford a day without pay.

A longtime chef, Brown said immigrants are “what makes the hospitality industry go round.” Especially in larger cities, he has worked in kitchens where as many as 70% of the staffers were immigrants.

“Everyone has a right to migrate, to come to this country legally,” he said. “We’re in a scary time where a lot of these laws and ordinances that we’ve had forever are just being thrown out the window.”

After covering operational costs, 100% of profits from Friday will be donated to Latinos en Spokane or another immigrant support organization.

“Donating profits is the best that someone like me can do,” Brown said.

Boo Radley’s posted Friday morning on Facebook that it would remain open, with a 15% donation of the day’s sales going to Latinos en Spokane.

“A core value of Boo Radley’s is kindness, and to us that means we believe NO human is illegal on stolen land. ICE is not, and never will be, welcome in our store and we strongly believe that they are acting unjustly and unlawfully,” the Facebook post reads. “Protesting is a constitutional right, not a death sentence.”

Owner Jen Menzer said she “wasn’t trying to make a name or anything” in posting.

“It was more just a call out for other people, and to let them know we’re a safe place,” Menzer said, adding she wants “to show humanity in a world where there isn’t as much as there used to be.”

Boots Bakery and Lounge employee Jessica DeVore said business has been normal on their end. Though DeVore didn’t want to speak for the bakery on the topic of the strike, a morning Facebook post read: “We fully support everyone who is striking today. We decided it was best for our team and our people to remain open.”

The lounge is a safe place, the post reads, and “no one is illegal on stolen land.”