More than 900 Google workers have signed an open letter calling on the tech giant to sever its business relationships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
CNBC reports that a group of over 900 Google employees has publicly condemned the company’s partnerships with federal immigration enforcement agencies, demanding full disclosure of contracts and complete divestment from these relationships. The open letter, circulated among staff, comes amid growing concern about the role technology companies play in supporting government immigration operations.
The letter says Google workers are “appalled by the violence” and “horrified” by Google’s involvement in ICE operations. The employees assert that Google is actively enabling what they describe as a campaign of surveillance, violence, and repression through its technology platforms and services.
According to the letter, Google Cloud is currently supporting CBP surveillance operations and powering Palantir’s ImmigrationOS system, which ICE uses for its operations. The employees also point out that Google’s generative AI technology is being utilized by CBP, while noting that the Google Play Store has blocked applications designed to track ICE activities.
The letter invokes a statement from Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, who wrote on social media in early January that “We all bear a collective responsibility to speak up and not be silent when we see things like the events of the last week.” The employees argue this responsibility extends to opposing the company’s partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security, CBP, and ICE.
“We are vehemently opposed to Google’s partnerships with DHS, CBP, and ICE,” the employees wrote in their letter. “We consider it our leadership’s ethical and policy-bound responsibility to disclose all contracts and collaboration with CBP and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships.”
The document outlines several specific demands for Google leadership. First, employees want the company to publicly acknowledge the dangers that workers face from ICE. They are calling for an emergency internal question-and-answer session focused specifically on Google’s contracts with DHS and military organizations. The letter also requests implementation of safety measures to protect employees, including flexible work-from-home policies and immigration support services.
Additionally, the signatories demand transparency regarding all existing ties between Google and the government agencies in question, arguing that full disclosure would help stakeholders understand where the company draws ethical boundaries in its business relationships.
“As workers of conscience, we demand that our leadership end our backslide into contracting for governments enacting violence against civilians,” the letter states. “Google is now a prominent node in a shameful lineage of private companies profiting from violent state repression. We must use this moment to come together as a Googler community and demand an end to this disgraceful use of our labor.”
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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