Waiter Jose Carlos Chavez brings a late afternoon meal to diners Friday at Lindo Michoacan, 2655 E. Desert Inn Road. All of the Mexican restaurant's employees will be staying at home on May 1 during the nationwide economic boycott over immigration reform. Photo by Jeff Scheid. A customer of Mariana's Supermarket, near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road, walks Friday past fliers about the May 1 protest. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Fans of Lindo Michoacan's signature carnitas will be out of luck if they try to visit the popular Mexican restaurant on May 1. It will be closed as part of a national day of protest by immigrants designed to draw attention to how important they are to the U.S. economy.

"I have no choice," Lindo Michoacan owner Javier Barajas said of the closure. "My employees already told me nobody's going to show up to work."

Several other local Hispanic-owned businesses also are planning to close. Some Hispanic employees scheduled to work that day at other businesses are expected to skip their shifts, and students might decide to "boycott" school.

It will be the eighth immigration-related protest held this year in the valley. The biggest, an April 10 march to the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, drew about 3,500 people. Protesters called on federal lawmakers to avoid classifying illegal immigrants as criminals and to reject a proposal to build a fence along most of the U.S. border with Mexico.

They also asked lawmakers to improve working and living conditions for immigrants and create a path toward citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Barajas, who said he emigrated from Mexico nearly 30 years ago and lived illegally in the United States for about five years, said he had mixed feelings about the May 1 protest. He is afraid it will hurt small businesses disproportionately.

"The pressure should be on the casinos, not on a little restaurant," he said. "I tried at the beginning to get them (the employees) to work, but they said, 'No, you can fire us.' So I said, 'OK. Let's close, then.' "

He said he'll lose about $14,000 by closing his restaurant for a day so that his 82 employees can participate in the protest.

Casino representatives said they weren't sure what to expect on May 1, but have asked their employees to put in for a vacation day if they plan to stay home from work.

"We absolutely encourage our employees to make their voices heard in the political process on their own time," Harrah's spokesman David Strow said.

If employees are scheduled to work but don't show up, their absence will be counted as a "no call, no show," he said.

MGM Mirage spokeswoman Yvette Monet said the company supports "responsible immigration reform."

"We also understand our employees' concerns about the immigration measures that are being proposed," she said.

Employees who want to take part in the protest "are simply being asked to submit their request for time off through the normal departmental procedures."

Some immigration activists don't agree with the boycott strategy, saying skipping out on work and school sends the wrong message.

"We support the idea behind the protest," Latin Chamber of Commerce chairman Robert Gomez said. "We believe there's a more constructive way to get the message out."

Culinary union spokeswoman Pilar Weiss agreed.

"Bringing the economy to a halt is not really the effective way to get the message across that we support comprehensive immigration reform," she said. "For us, telling people to risk their jobs and go against their employer or have their kids ditch school isn't the right focus."

Weiss suggested that supporters instead sign petitions or call legislators with their opinions.

Gomez, who owns Magic Brite Janitorial and employs 180 people, suggested that those who support the protest should instead wear a special pin or T-shirt advocating rights for immigrants so they won't get in trouble at work. He said he has no plans to close his business on May 1.

"My people agree with what I'm saying," he said of his employees, most of whom he said are minorities. "Let's do it in a way that won't hurt anybody."

Gomez said he thinks the boycott will be supported primarily by "truly ethnic-type businesses."

"The total Mexican restaurant, they're going to close," he said. "We think the majority of employers will still be open for business."

Amigo Services Scribes, a business that helps immigrants with citizenship applications and other legal issues, also will close May 1 to support the protest.

Owner Malena Burnett said illegal immigrants have a profound effect on the U.S. economy.

"I do taxes for illegals," she said. "They get a temporary identification number from the Internal Revenue Service so they can pay taxes."

Burnett said illegal immigrants pay billions of dollars in taxes in the United States.

In addition to his restaurant, Barajas also plans on May 1 to close his six local wire-transfer businesses at which immigrants can send money to their families in Mexico.

The entrepreneur from the Mexican state of Michoacan said he is torn by the nationwide debate over immigration reform.

"I don't know how to handle it," he said. "Whatever they do, Mexicans still are going to be coming. I love Mexico like my mother and the U.S. like my father. I wish (they) could become one big country."