Microsoft Officials Protest Against ICE As Tech Industry Mobilizes Immigration

In an open letter on Tuesday on an internal board, more than 100 employees of Microsoft protested against the work of software maker for Immigration and Customs and have asked the company to cease the work with an agency that is sorting out children and migrant parents at Mexican borders.

“We believe that Microsoft should adopt an ethical attitude and prioritize children and families over profits,” as per a letter addressed to director Satya Nadella. The letter explained about the deal, worth $19.4 Million with ICE, for data processing and artificial intelligence capabilities.

The employees called the separation of families as “inhumane” and added, “We being the people who build the Microsoft technology, turn down to be deceitful. We are part of a growing business consisting of many who are in the industry, who know their responsibility of ensuring the development of technology built by them isn’t used to harm and is deployed for good.”

The letter is part of a wave of technical heads who are mobilizing in the current week for a new government zero tolerance policy led by Trump, which concerns all immigrants’ colonization without permission. The policy led to separate about 2,000 children from migrant workers.

In Silicon Valley, companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook, in recent days circulated internal emails for donations to commercial organizations in support of immigrants. Many of them shared information about the protests in San Francisco and Washington. And some employees communicated with heads about the issue and requested them to respond.

Various governors appreciated the Trump’s zero tolerance policy for safeguarding the immigrant policy, and have deployed troops on the borders. There are also some governors of both Democrat and Republican, who refused to send troops on the border as an action against children separation move from the migrant parents.