New Jersey restaurant owners are preparing for the possibility of their employees not showing up to work on Thursday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration orders.

Monsy Alvarado reports for
The Record:


Marilou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association, said she held a conference call on Monday with some of the members of her organization to talk about the political action. She said most of the restaurant owners who had called her understood why employees might want to participate.

“By and large a lot of our restaurants are supportive of it, they certainly hope that their staff would give them a heads-up if they are not coming in, but they do understand their need and it’s their right of freedom of speech,’’ she said.

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Halvorsen said one restaurant in Monmouth County is giving its immigrant workers a paid day off so they can participate in what is being called “A Day Without Immigrants.”