New York, February 17 (RHC)-- The United States experienced a "Day Without Immigrants" as protests spread across the country on Thursday, where immigrants skipped class, work and shopping as a symbolic gesture to show their importance for the country and speak out against President Donald Trump's immigration raids. 

Organizers in several cities -- including Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and  Washington, DC -- asked immigrants to stay at home on Thursday to draw attention to their importance to the way of life in the U.S.  Many refrained from going to work or attending school, opening up businesses, shopping online or in stores, eating at restaurants and even buying gas. 

"Without us and our contribution, this country is paralyzed," says one of the flyers on social media calling for the one-day boycott.  "We might lose a day of work but we will win so much more."  The protest comes after Trump vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and instructed his administration to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Trump also introduced a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and an indefinite entry ban on all refugees from Syria, which is currently suspended.  He has continuously named high rates of immigration as the root cause of unemployment and insecurity in the United States. 

"For one single day on a weekday, we must come together and unite in absolute resistance in order to reject the system dictating the launch from dehumanization and blatant oppression of those that are not straight, white, natural-born citizens," says one of the social media posts. 

At least 11 million people live in the U.S. without required documentation.  They make up nearly ten percent of the employees in hotels and restaurants, according to the Pew Research Center.