The controversial executive decision by President Donald Trump is having a clear impact on the tech industry, with major executives and employees all condemning the so-called Muslim Ban. Google’s employees recently staged a walkout protest in order to express their outrage at Trump’s decision to prevent citizens from Muslim-majority countries to enter the US. It’s also a protest that Google supported.
Google offices including in San Francisco, Seattle, and New York saw over 2,000 employees rallying in opposition to the controversial immigration ban that the Trump administration just imposed, The Verge reports. The protesters also sent out Tweets with the hashtag #GooglersUnite, with videos and photos included.
Before the protest, the employees came up with over $2 million in funding that are meant to be distributed to non-profits all over the world. Google matched the fund, adding $2 million of its own. According to one of the tech giant’s employees, Enzam Hossain who spoke to The Verge, there was no confusion about the subject of the protest.
"This was in direct response to the immigration action," Hossain said. "We wanted to be a part of it, and support our colleagues who are facing it."
Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO and one of the co-founders, Sergey Brin supported the political statement wholeheartedly. Speaking to the crowd of employees in front of the company’s Mountain View HQ, Pichai is encouraging for the fight against the Muslim Ban to continue, TechCrunch reports.
Brin also shared his story when his family moved to the US from the former Soviet Union during a time when relations between the two countries were not at their best. Even then, however, the US still allowed Brin and his family to enter the country, taking a chance on people who came from a nation that was then considered an enemy.
The two Google executives stressed that this is not a fight between Liberals and Republicans. Rather, it’s a fight between two fundamental principles.