Great American Boycott

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The Great American Boycott

Date	May 1, 2006 (2006-05-01)
Location	United States, nationwide
Type	Demonstration
Theme	Immigrants rights
Participants	~1,000,000[1]

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The Great American Boycott (Spanish: El Gran Paro Estadounidense, or Spanish: El Gran Paro Americano, lit. "the Great American Strike"), also called the Day Without an Immigrant (Spanish: Día sin inmigrante), was a one-day boycott of United States schools and businesses by immigrants in the United States (mostly Latin American) which took place on May 1, 2006.

The date was chosen by boycott organizers to coincide with May Day, the International Workers Day observed as a national holiday in Asia, most of Europe, and Mexico, but not officially recognized in the United States due to its Communist associations to some, and a separate Labor Day (a holiday it shares with Canada) in early September.^[2][3][4]

As a continuation of the 2006 US immigration reform protests, the organizers called for supporters to abstain from buying, selling, working, and attending school, in order to attempt to demonstrate through the extent to which the labor obtained of undocumented immigrants is needed. Supporters of the boycott rallied in major cities across the US to demand general amnesty and legalization programs for illegal immigrants. For this reason, the day was referred to as "A Day Without an Immigrant", a reference to the 2004 political satire film, A Day Without a Mexican.^{[citation needed]}

Though most demonstrations were peaceful, a Vista, California rally took a violent turn at day's end when crowds began throwing rocks and bottles at sheriff's deputies. There were also two arrests made at a demonstration in Los Angeles's MacArthur Park.^[5]

In a show of solidarity, internationally, labor unions and other groups engaged in a one-day boycott of US products called the "Nothing Gringo Boycott", particularly in Mexico and Central American countries.^[6] Demonstrations were also held in major cities across Mexico.^[7]