How CEOs are reacting to the immigration ban
Silicon Valley CEOs entered the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policy this weekend, offering criticisms of the seven-country immigration ban and in some cases outlining plans to support the employees it affects. The responses range in tone from mild rebuke to stern denunciation, reflecting both the varying personal opinions of the CEOs and their individual willingness to risk retribution from the federal government.
Here’s how tech companies reacted, with their responses sorted by the strength of their criticism.
STRONG
Statements that express moral opposition to the policy.
Box. Aaron Levie, CEO of the business collaboration company, called the ban “wrong” in strong terms. He has since expanded on his thoughts in a post on Medium.
Lyft. “Throughout our history, Lyft has worked hard to create an inclusive, diverse and conscientious community where all of our drivers and passengers feel welcome and respected,” CEO Logan Green told Recode. “Banning people of a particular religion from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft's and our nation's core values."
This morning, Lyft announced that it was pledging to donate $1 million over the next four years to the ACLU.
Google. "We’re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that create barriers to bringing great talent to the U.S.," Google told Bloomberg. In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, CEO Sundar Pichai said it is “painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues.” Google co-founder Larry Page has yet to weigh in, but his fellow co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted at the march at San Francisco International Airport.
According to the USA Today, Google has created its largest crisis campaign ever with a $2 million crisis fund that can be matched by employees for a total of $4 million. The fund will be used for four organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee, and UNHCR.
Instacart. CEO Apoorva Mehta tweeted that he is “sad and angry” about the ban. The company donated $100,000 to the ACLU and invited employees to a meeting this week to discuss further actions.
Netflix. CEO Reed Hastings denounced Trump’s policy, call this “a very sad week.” “Trump's actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all,” Hastings said in a Facebook post. “Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.”
Salesforce. CEO Marc Benioff called for an end to the ban on Twitter. He also retweeted a number of posts critical of the executive order, including one by Twitter board member Bret Taylor.
Shameful. Students can't return to school. Permanent residents separated from families. We're better than this.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/us/…
Slack. CEO Stewart Butterfield posted a lengthy tweetstorm about the ban. “Nearly every action seems gratuitously … evil,” Butterfield said of Trump’s first week. He went on to describe how his grandparents had found refuge in America. “We are all brothers and sisters,” he said.
Uber. Uber pledged to compensate drivers stuck overseas because of Trump’s ban. “This ban will impact many innocent people — an issue that I will raise this coming Friday when I go to Washington for President Trump’s first business advisory group meeting,” CEO Travis Kalanick said in a Facebook post. (The company later faced strong criticismfor disabling surge pricing at John F. Kennedy International Airport during a reported taxi strike; Kalanick responded by donating $3 million to set up a legal defense fund for affected drivers.)
Y Combinator. The president of the prestigious Silicon Valley incubator, which birthed Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and other unicorns, said it is “time to take a stand.” “This administration has already shown that they are not particularly impressed by the First Amendment, and that they are interested in other anti-immigrant action,” Sam Altman said in a blog post. “So we must object, or our inaction will send a message that the administration can continue to take away our rights.”
Airbnb. Brian Chesky, CEO of the popular home-sharing service, condemned the immigration ban, calling for his company to “stand with those who are affected” — and then he went one step further, offering free housing to “anyone not allowed in the USA.”
MEDIUM
Statements that express specific, but basic opposition to the policy.
Apple. CEO Tim Cook said the executive orders “are not a policy we support.” In a memo to employees, he said Apple had reached out to the White House in protest of the immigration ban.
Autodesk. CEO Carl Bass: “We do not support President Trump’s stance on immigration.”
Foursquare. The company tweeted out its opposition to the immigration ban Monday. “It’s against American openness to people seeking a better, safer or freer life,” the company said.
Intel. Intel initially said nothing beyond pledging to support its affected employees. But on Sunday CEO Brian Krzanich emailed employees to signal the company’s opposition to the ban. “"I have heard from many of you," he wrote, "and share your concern over the recent executive order and want you to know this is not a policy we can support."
Microsoft. Microsoft — a big government contractor — initially issued a response thatexpressed non-specific “concerns” and said it would aid employees who are affected.
But on Sunday the company stepped up its criticism, calling the immigration ban “misguided and a fundamental step backwards.”
Mozilla. CEO Chris Beard: “It’s a bad precedent, ignores history, and is likely to do more lasting harm than good.”
Tesla. CEO Elon Musk came out against the policy. “Many people negatively affected by this policy are strong supporters of the US,” tweeted Musk, who just joined Trump’sManufacturing Jobs Initiative yesterday. “They've done right, not wrong & don't deserve to be rejected.”
Twitter. CEO Jack Dorsey called the impact “real and upsetting” in a tweet.
The Executive Order's humanitarian and economic impact is real and upsetting. We benefit from what refugees and immigrants bring to the U.S. twitter.com/internetassn/s…
Twitter also posted a tweet, that it stood for and with “migrants of all religions.”
WEAK
Statements that express “concern.”
Facebook. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was “concerned” about Trump’s executive orders but offered support for vague comments Trump made to “work something out” for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. “We should also keep our doors open to refugees and those who need help,” he said in a Facebook post.
Amazon. Amazon acknowledged that the immigration ban is a thing that definitely exists, and in a message to employees, offered “contingency plans” to employees affected.
“From the very beginning, Amazon has been committed to equal rights, tolerance and diversity — and we always will be,” wrote VP of human resources Beth Galetti, in an email provided to The Verge by way of comment. “As we’ve grown the company, we’ve worked hard to attract talented people from all over the world, and we believe this is one of the things that makes Amazon great — a diverse workforce helps us build better products for customers.”
YET TO COMMENT
Oracle.
We will continue to update this post as notable responses come in.
DONALD TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER, EXPLAINED
IN THIS STORYSTREAM
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- Silicon Valley’s responses to Trump’s immigration executive orders, from strongest to weakest
- Tim Cook says Trump’s executive orders are ‘not a policy we support’
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