Silicon Valley takes up arms against Donald Trump; CEOs pledge cash, resources to support immigrants
A few days ago, US President Donald Trump issued an order halting the arrival of all refugees into the US for 120 days. He also banned the citizens of six Muslim-majority
countries, including Iran, from entering the country for 90 days.
Various federal courts have outright rejected Trump’s order. Despite being illegal, the order has sown a great deal of confusion at airports and other countries. Silicon Valley is particularly perturbed by this order and a number of CEOs have taken steps to fight the ban.
The various tech companies responded to the order in their own way, some more strongly than others.
Airbnb: Free housing for refugees
Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky tweeted out that his company will provide free housing to anyone not allowed in the US. He even asked anyone in need of “urgent housing” to contact him directly.
Any Airbnb host willing to support this initiative can volunteer their home as well.
Google: Crisis fund for immigration
While Google CEO Sundar Pichai didn’t say much against Trump’s immigration ban other than to express concern, the company has donated almost $4 million to organisations that are championing the cause for immigration.
A USA Today exclusive report states that Google will donate $2 million, matched by an equal amount from employees, to fund the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Immigrant Legal Resource Centre (ILRC), International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Office of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Lyft: Donations to ACLU
Lyft founders John Zimmer and Logan Green took a firm stance against Trump, stating that they stand “firmly against” his actions. The co-founders together promised to donate $1 million in funding to the ACLU over the next four years.
Tesla, SpaceX: “Help me amend the ban,” Elon Musk
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX took to Twitter to criticise Trump’s immigration ban. Rather than just make strong statements or donate money to charity, Musk believes that the ban is here to stay and rather than fight it outright, he hopes to get Trump to modify it.
Please read immigration order. Lmk specific amendments. Will seek advisory council consensus & present to President. blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/…
In another tweet to the public, Musk asked for suggestions on “specific amendments” to the ban and other changes that he can propose to Trump after seeking “advisory council consensus.”
Uber: 24/7 legal support fund
Uber’s method of dealing with Trump’s immigration ban have been met with harsh criticism for its opportunism, resulting in the trending #DeleteUber tag on Twitter. The tag was preceded by an image of people deleting the Uber app from their phones.
It all started on 28 January when mass protests were being held outside JFK for the release of immigrants and against their detention. A taxi union was present at the strike as well and Uber’s tweet promising no surge pricing at JFK was seen as an attempt to undermine that union’s strike.
Uber denies any intention of doing so, and while the company’s intentions may have been misinterpreted, the company had to quickly step in and take clarify its stance on the ban.
To that end, Uber immediately apologised and issued a statement stating that it was setting up a $3 million legal defence fund for drivers affected by the ban. This fund will enable 24/7 legal support as well as translation surfaces to affected drivers, said Travis Kalanick, Uber CEO.
Support for the ACLU
Among the protests, various tech CEOs pledged to match ACLU donations of those who responded to them with receipts. The list includes investor Chris Sacca, Stripe CEO Patrick Collision, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, Xamarin CEO Nat Friedman and many more.
The ACLU was the organisation that challenged Trump’s order in a federal court and won. Teams of volunteer ACLU lawyers have also been helping out immigrants for free at various airports in the US.
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