Restaurant owners are signing up in droves to be designated as “sanctuary restaurants” by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, an industry trade group. By proclaiming themselves “safe spaces” for immigrant and LGBTQ workers, they accept that much of the national conversation around immigration will be battled out in the restaurant industry.
“It was a no brainer to sign on,” Michael Landgarten, the owner of Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Maine, told Quartz. Trump’s hardline approach “just doesn’t feel like our true values in terms of being open-armed and giving people pathways to succeed and contribute,” he added.