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Protesters carry the mexican flag during a May 1 2006 boycott march

The Great American Boycott (Spanish: El Gran Paro Estadounidense, lit. "the Great American Strike") was a one-day boycott of United States schools and businesses by immigrants in the United States, of mostly Latin American origin that 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.

As a continuation of the 2006 U.S. 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 illegal immigrants is needed. Supporters of the boycott rallied in major cities across the U.S. to demand general amnesty and legalization programs for illegal aliens. For this reason, the day is referred to as A Day Without an Immigrant in reference to the 2004 political satire film A Day Without a Mexican.

In a show of solidarity, internationally, labor unions and other groups engaged in a one-day boycott of U.S. products called the "Nothing Gringo Boycott", particularly in Mexico and Central American countries. (more...)