It’s the first day after the nationwide Day Without Immigrants boycott, and many people are asking if it was all worth it. Did we have an economic impact? And who, after all, did the boycott really hurt?

The May 1st boycott was part of a nationwide series of marches in which, organizers contend, some 5 million people took part. Those marching took off from work and from schools to attend the protest: and they made no purchases that day.

Tyson Foods, the largest meat packing company in the world and Perdue Farms, the chicken processing firm, were among the major companies supporting the Day Without Immigrants boycott. Perdue Farms even suspended its operations to a half day.

Alongside employees from these companies, thousands of construction and industrial plant workers marched with small business employees in places where there are large numbers of immigrant employees – locations like New York, Chicago, Florida, Houston and California, among others.

But did the Day Without Immigrants boycott have any real economic impact?

At this early date, no one knows what kind of impact the boycott had nationally. Economists and business leaders say it will be easier to measure the impact on the local level, since there were some states that did not hold boycott marches.

Guillermo Meneses, spokesperson for the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NHCC), said the impact should be looked at in the cities where boycotts were held.

According to NHCC statistics, Latinos spend some $300 billion a year in the United States and make $750 billion in purchases.

“We are powerful contributors because we make up nearly 10 percent of the nation’s economy. And we’re an even larger percentage in cities like Los Angeles.”

Jack Kaiser, an economist based in Los Angeles (where some 10 million people live –four million of whom are of Latino origin) estimates economic losses due to the boycott could come close to $52 million; it might even reach as high as $200 million.

“We base that on the numbers of people who participated in the marches, the numbers of shoppers marketers counted in local stores, the percentage of truck deliveries made, the numbers of students who went to school and the workers who did not show up at small companies and businesses."

He added, “And there were thousands of people who did not buy or sell anything that day, and business that opened and closed later than usual. In addition, most employers won’t be paying their employees for that day, since they took the day off.”

So, who really suffers from the Day Without Immigrants boycott?

“Those who will really lose out in a most direct form will be the workers who won’t receive their pay and our local small businesses, one of the major areas of growth among Latinos, which closed down and had their employees attending the marches.

Dozens of locations in southern California were without workers in key sectors it needs for commerce, like finance and transportation, Felipe Aguirre, the deputy mayor of Maywood, pointed out.

The boycott was noticeable in cities southeast of Los Angeles, like the Central de Abasto. In Long Beach and Los Angeles, city administrators saw an 80 percent reduction in operations.

Dante D’Eramo, executive director of Huntington Park’s chamber of commerce, said that some 90 percent of the cities’ 1,800 businesses joined the Day Without Immigrants boycott.

Roberto Vargas, owner of A&R Computers, closed his Huntington Park located store on May 1. He said he knew he was losing money, but he was joining the boycott to support its principles.

Pedro Astorga, president of the Asociación de Comerciantes de la Central de Abastos de la Calle Siete (Business Owner’s Association of the Central de Abastos of 7th Street) that represents close to 90 businesses – most of which close on Monday, May 1 – said that the owners knew they were losing financially, but that it was more important to win this immigration battle.

“I think we won a degree of respect from the federal government and the rest of the country,” he said. Astorga was one of those who initiated the idea of closing the Central de Abastos and having its hundreds of stores, restaurants, small businesses and small salesmen closed for business.

“Those who really felt the affect were those who opened, because they had to close once they realized there’d be no sales that day,” he said.

Astorga added that there was such a degree of pride among the workers who participated in the boycott that some did not even want to receive their wages for that day. "I told some employees that they would be paid for that day, but they said they did not want the money because they had not worked. They said they had joined the boycott knowing they would lose money, but willingly took part.”