Here’s how major tech leaders reacted to Donald Trump’s immigration order


Sundar Pichai

The tech world has slammed US President Donald Trump’s order of banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries -Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. CEO’s of major tech companies have criticized and reacted to this latest move.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out a memo to its employees urging anyone with a visa or green card from one of the banned countries to cancel any travel plans. He said the company is concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers to bringing great talent to the US.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also expressed his concerns about the impact of the immigration order. He stated that his great grandparents came from Germany, Austria and Poland, and his wife Priscilla’s parents were refugees from China and Vietnam.

tim cook apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a memo to employees, “I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support. We have reached out to the White House to explain the negative effect on our coworkers and our company.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a LinkedIn post that the company shares the concerns of the order’s impact on its employees who are from the seven listed countries and have been in the US lawfully. Microsoft also said that it is working with its employees to provide legal advice and assistance.

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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also condemned the immigration order, saying the “humanitarian and economic impact of the ban is real and upsetting.

Netflix CEO Reed Hasting shared via a Facebook post, “Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all. Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.”

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Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder CEO Elon Musk also tweeted his concerns regarding the immigration order. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Airbnb c0-founder also criticized the latest move by US President Donald Trump.

[Update] – Executives of Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry and Periscope have also shared their views on this order.

BlackBeryy CEO John Chen wrote in a post,

Many technology companies, both in the U.S. and in Canada, were founded by immigrants. At BlackBerry, more than half of the executive team and many of our employees – including myself – are immigrants, so we see firsthand every day the value and benefits of legal immigration. While there is a need to protect citizens, we must also preserve our strength in diversity.

Periscope team wrote in a blog post,

Periscope is built, maintained, and operated by people from many faiths and countries. Without immigrants and refugees, Periscope would not exist.For this reason, we are updating the Periscope loading screen to make a simple true statement: “Proudly made in America by immigrants.


Author: Sneha Bokil

Sneha Bokil is a tech enthusiast and is currently using OnePlus 3T but she still treasures her Nokia N70 (M). You can follow her on Twitter @snehabokil and on Google+