Why you can't get a Sweetgreen salad on Thursday in D.C.

It'll be a day without a kale caesar.
 By 
Sasha Lekach
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

You might want to pack your own lunch Thursday.

Cities across the U.S. are participating in "Day Without Immigrants," a social justice movement based out of Washington, D.C., to show just how much we rely on an immigrant-based workforce. The nationwide strike may affect your lunch plans.

For anyone addicted to their fresh veggies and grain bowls, the salad chain Sweetgreen is closing up all their Washington, D.C., shops for the day.

In an email from the co-founders to customers and posted at the stores, the note said all 18 D.C. locations would be closed. The letter explained they were participating because "without the hard work and grit of our team, our stores do not run, and that means we can't make good on our promise to you."

The strike comes after Donald Trump introduced an executive order limiting travel for immigrants and refugees coming to the U.S. The de facto ban isn't in effect while it's held up in court, but the president has continued to claim immigrants and refugees are dangerous.

Mashable reached out Sweetgreen, but hasn't heard back yet. The chain with locations in New York, the Bay Area, LA, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and elsewhere is one of the bigger companies to join in on the strike.

It's not just Sweetgreen recognizing its hard-working employees, local restaurants and businesses across the country have also pledged to close up shop Thursday.

#DayWithoutImmigrants

A post shared by Sam Spencer (@choosesam) on

Support for Sweetgreen's decision came rolling in on Twitter, with many pledging to come by on Friday for a delish salad. So if you are heading into the store once the strike is over, make sure you plan for a three-hour wait.

Topics Donald Trump

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Sasha Lekach

Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.

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