A defiant tech industry is warning that President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration is un-American, threatens their workforce and could stymie their ability to innovate.
The executive order issued Friday temporarily bars immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
California politicians and executives from Silicon Valley giants like Netflix, Google and Facebook have issued harsh critiques in recent days and vowed to help their affected employees.
“It is quite impressive how tech has really stepped up to the Trump administration on an issue so key to our fundamental values,” Assemblyman Evan Low, D-San Jose, told Techwire in a phone interview.
Low, who co-chairs the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, was among several hundred protesters who gathered Sunday at the San Francisco International Airport.
Although Silicon Valley’s tech industry had largely supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign, they had taken a cautious wait-and-see attitude about Trump’s presidency. That appears to have changed after Trump’s executive order.
In a Facebook post Saturday, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said, “Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and so are so un-American it pains us all.”
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his page that his grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Germany, Austria and Poland. And he expressed concern about the order.
“We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat,” the tech billionaire said. “Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.”
The swift response comes from an industry that depends upon skilled foreign workers, a fact Google underscored in a statement responding to the order.
"We’re 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 United States,” said a statement released by Google.
Andrea Deveau, California executive director of the tech trade association TechNet, added that the order threatens to exacerbate the skills gap technology companies face today and hinder continued efforts to diversify its workforce.
“This is taking us back more steps than I think we even realize,” Deveau said.
On the state Senate floor on Monday, senators voted 26-11 for a resolution that described Trump’s executive order as one that “desecrates our American values and panders to fears and nativist instincts that have resulted in some of our nation’s most shameful acts.”
The executive order severely restricts immigration from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also suspends all refugee admission for 120 days and bars indefinitely refuges from Syria.
“The executive order combines inhumanity with incompetence,” Senate President Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said during a spirited debate. “It has resulted in chaos, confusion, deep anxiety and hardship at airports across the nation.”
Several Democratic lawmakers also argued the executive order would fuel anti-American sentiment and give extremists a recruiting tool to promote terrorism against the United States.
Republicans, however, sought to portray Trump’s order as one that simply allows a review of immigration procedures to ensure Americans are protected from terrorists.
“All he’s doing, my friends, is he’s hitting the pause button to do his job for protecting our country in accordance with the oath of office that he took,” Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, said.
“This is not about nationality or religion or ethnicity,” added Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber. “This is about evil people with evil intent, and their intent imperils our families and our security.”
