The local immigrant community in Albertville held another type of protest on Monday. Instead of making their voices heard in a large public protest like last Wednesday, they hope to convey the same message with their absence.
It was called "A Day Without Immigrants," during which immigrants and their supporters in cities across the country laid out of work, shopping and school to demonstrate their value and impact on society. Latinos Unidos Siempre, an immigrant advocacy group based in Oregon, said the strike was against "the anti-immigrant policies that are bringing increased immigration enforcement and terror in our communities are also an attack on working people."
While most Hispanic businesses and restaurants in Albertville appeared to operate as usual on Monday, several local schools reported a significant increase in student absences for the day.
Nearly one-third of Albertville City Schools student body, which is majority-minority, was absent on Monday, though the schools could not confirm the exact reason.
"Albertville City Schools has seen a higher-than-usual number of student absences today, with just over 30-percent of our students not in attendance," Miranda Humphrey, public relations and marketing coordinator for the school system, told 1819 News. "These absences reflect students across all grade levels and demographics. At this time, we do not have specific information regarding the reason for the increased absences."
RELATED: Albertville: How lax immigration policy drastically changed the character of an Alabama town
In the Marshall County Schools system, Superintendent Cindy Wigley said schools in Asbury and Douglas each had up to 150 student absences.
Other reports shared on social media alleged that many other schools in Alabama had similar issues.
At least one business in Albertville posted on Facebook that it was closed on Monday "in support of our families, friends and community."
"United in the movement. United in the dream." the post read.
Jalisco Supermarket, a grocery store chain in Georgia, was also closed Monday "in support of our Hispanic community."
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on X and Facebook.
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