In response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that placed a ban on U.S. immigration from seven predominately Muslim countries, Google has created a crisis fund totaling up to $4 million to support several immigration and human rights organizations.
Join us after the break for the details.
The immigration ban, which has been met with outcry worldwide, prevents any residents from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from entering the U.S. for three months. The order from President Trump also indefinitely stops any admission into the country of refugees from Syria, as well as all refugees for 120 days.
Over the weekend, Google CEO Sundar Pichai released a statement asking any U.S. citizen employees overseas to return home and stressed how this executive order would affect them:
“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 U.S. We'll continue to make our views on these issues known to leaders in Washington and elsewhere.”
The crisis fund Google has now set up will match employee donations up to $2 million for a total of $4 million. Company executives are also said to be making their own individual donations. The organizations specifically attributed to this fund are the American Civil Liberties Union, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Other tech companies have spoken out against the order including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla Motors, and Airbnb who has been trying to coordinate free housing for anyone left stranded. A federal judge over the weekend also ordered a temporary halt to the immigration ban as the Trump administration has been heavily criticized for enacting this order without involving any of the necessary departments as well as citing human rights violations.
Google has a long history of supporting various humanitarian causes, but this new crisis fund is their biggest single effort to date.
Source: USA Today
