Google launched its biggest crisis campaign ever as the Mountain View-based tech giant recently established a $2 million emergency fund to support the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The fund could raise up to $4 million with matching donations from Google’s employees and is a direct response to a controversial executive order signed by President Trump on Friday which suspended immigration from seven prevalently Muslim countries for the next three months. The existence of the fund was initially revealed in a memo sent to Google’s employees by the company’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai on Saturday, while a spokeswoman for the company confirmed the information to USA Today on Sunday.
Top executives at Google previously criticized President Trump’s executive order and the co-founder of the Internet giant Sergey Brin even personally participated in a protest against the ban held at San Fransico International Airport on Friday. The Silicon Valley as a whole is virtually unified against the immigration ban seeing how many U.S. tech giants traditionally relied on immigrants for talent acquisition and many top executives at these companies were once immigrants themselves. Google already recalled its employees in response to Trump’s immigration ban and publicly voiced strong opposition to the President’s decision.
While troubling, the latest turn of events isn’t surprising seeing how the topic of immigration was often projected to be one of many potential conflict points between the Trump administration and the Silicon Valley. In addition to Google, President’s executive order was already publicly criticized by Microsoft, Apple, Uber, Lyft, Tesla Motors, Netflix and many other Internet and technology companies headquartered in the United States. President Trump and his administration already defended their temporary immigration ban on several occasions but they have yet to comment on the fact that the Silicon Valley has seemingly united against their latest measure. The executive order suspending immigration to the U.S. only affects several countries and was intended as a temporary measure until the new administration drafts new vetting procedures which will reportedly be tougher on any immigrant looking to apply for a U.S. visa.