Day Without Immigrants: Parents outraged after S.C. day care closes

A bilingual day care in South Carolina closed its doors Thursday in support of immigrants, leaving many parents scrambling to find alternate care, a South Carolina newspaper reported.

According to IslandPacket.com, administrators at the Little Steps Daycare and Preschool in Bluffton, South Carolina, let parents know Wednesday evening through a Facebook post that the school would be closed for "A Day Without Immigrants," a national strike against President Donald Trump's travel ban and crack down on illegal immigration.

The announcement, shared on a "Little Steps" Facebook profile and not currently visible to the public, included the following:

“As an educational institution, I do not mix politics nor any beliefs within the daycare’s decisions, but all our staff members are immigrants,” an administrator wrote. “I cannot take away their right of protesting for what they believe is not fair.”

“Even though everyone working in Little Steps is legal in this country, we believe it’s imperative to join this movement and protest since there are family relatives and friends being affected by all the raids and it saddened us to see the way ... things are being taken care of.”

To show the impact of immigrant labor and dollars on the U.S. economy, immigrants across the country will be participating by missing school, work and avoiding shopping on Thursday. Businesses like the S.C. day care are also participating.

Many parents were outraged at the short notice, including Lauren Malphrus, who pulled up to the facility Thursday morning and struggled to find alternate care for her 3-year-old son.

"Why didn't they tell me?" she told IslandPacket.com. "Why didn't they call the parents? I've got to go to work."

IslandPacket.com reported that the responses on the Facebook page ranged from outrage and threats of lawsuits to some people who said they understood the importance of the issue.

Read the full story here.

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Fiza Pirani