Liz Dennerlein, and Payton Guion

Asbury Park Press

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ASBURY PARK - Hector Manny was 16 when he first moved to the United States, working 14-hour days, six days a week in restaurants.

He moved with his family from Mexico City. Today, the 33-year-old Long Branch resident is the sous chef at Brickwall Tavern in Asbury Park.

“When I first (came here), it was pretty hard,” Manny said. “Working in restaurants, it’s not just eight hours Monday to Friday. We don’t have Saturdays or Sundays off. We work on holidays.”

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On Thursday, Manny wants to show how much of an impact his work has had over the years. He will participate in a “Day Without Immigrants” strike, a national event to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Manny, along with nine of his immigrant co-workers, will not go to work that day.

“We will all participate so that the government can see how much money they can lose if we don’t buy anything from the store, if we don’t buy gas, if we don’t buy food, if we don’t go to work. If we stop for one day,” Manny said.

Restaurant owners across New Jersey are prepared for that to happen, said Marilou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association. Many of the restaurant owners she represents will support their immigrant employees who wish to strike and will call in additional workers to fill the gap, she said.

The strike aims to show the impact made by immigrants throughout the nation and to oppose the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

In the last week, hundreds of undocumented immigrants have been detained in raids across at least seven states. A Trump executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations has been stayed pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

During the campaign, Trump called for the removal of 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Restaurants in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are reportedly preparing for large-scale participation in the strike. On Monday, thousands of activists in Wisconsin took part in a "Day Without Latinos." Meanwhile, several restaurants across the nation have declared themselves sanctuaries for immigrants, refugees and the LGBT community.

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Johanna Calle, program director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said this strike would serve to remind people of the importance immigrants have in the U.S. economy.

"It really shows how needed and important our immigrant population is," Calle said. "This will allow people to imagine what it would be like if these immigration policies are enforced."

Manny and his co-workers in Asbury Park will not be alone on Thursday. Smith, the restaurant group that owns Brickwall, will pay its entire back-of-house staff as if they worked the day.

Smith also will support employees at its restaurants Porta, and Pascal and Sabine.

Staff members of the front of the house will do the cooking. The menu will be limited. For every burger sold at Brickwall Thursday, $1 will be donated to Rutgers Law Immigration Clinic.

Mark Hinchliffe, the junior partner at Smith, said the back-of-house staff is the backbone of the restaurant.

“They mean everything to us,” Hinchliffe, 33, said. “We value and respect them. This is to let them know that they’re not unnoticed by any means.”

Before becoming a partner, Hinchliffe trained as a vegan chef, and worked in kitchens in California for the better part of a year in 2012.

“(Immigrants) make up the majority of kitchens in restaurants all across America,” Hinchliffe said. “It’s important to let people know that they probably wouldn’t be eating the food in a restaurant if it weren’t for the immigrants making it.”

Pete Nealon, 31, who manages the front of house at Brickwall in Asbury Park and Burlington, first heard about the strike from Manny

“He’s been my partner at the Brickwall since I was hired,” Nealon said. “I immediately asked what I could do to help. It wasn’t even a thought. These guys work day in and day out.”

When Nealon was first hired, Manny worked as the head line chef, teaching him the ropes.

“There would be no Brickwall without them, no food without them,” Nealon said. “We pride ourselves on having something for everybody. If we’re going to be that place for everybody, we also need to have everybody.”

Manny, who received his citizenship when he married his wife, currently has two children — a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl.

“This country was built on immigrants,” Manny said. “I know a lot of people who are immigrants. We’re all starting a new life here, and I don’t think anybody can stop that.”

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