A growing chorus of corporate leaders are speaking out against US President Donald Trump’s executive order, which suspends entry into the United States from citizens (or dual citizens) of seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Hi-tech companies were the first to raise concerns, at least partly because their industry is highly reliant on foreign talent. In fact, one study shows that 51% of America’s billion-dollar startups were set up by immigrants. Some of the sector’s biggest companies have been founded or run by executives, engineers, and managers born abroad. Many came as graduate students and stayed on, as Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s cases show. Some, like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, are children of refugees. After the ban. Brin and Pichai addressed Google employees with spirited speeches, expressing solidarity with the staff’s anger. (Brin was also seen at the San Francisco airport, showing support to demonstrators and pro bono lawyers, who are the real heroes of this drama).
Other companies have joined in the protests too: Starbucks announced that it would aggressively recruit refugees over the next five years; Airbnb is offering free rooms to those stranded; Amazon has reached out to US Congressmen to explore legislative options to counter the executive order; and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also said he is exploring legal options.
