Nearly a thousand Google workers sign letter urging company to divest from ICE, CBP

Over 900 employees at Google have united in an open letter expressing strong disapproval of the company's collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The letter calls for transparency regarding Google's dealings with these agencies and urges the tech giant to sever its ties with them. The signatories of the letter highlighted their outrage over recent incidents involving ICE, including the deaths of individuals such as Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. They described their disbelief at what they perceive as Google's complicity in violence against vulnerable populations, stating, "Google is powering this campaign of surveillance, violence, and repression." Among the concerns raised was the assertion that Google Cloud services are instrumental in enabling CBP's surveillance capabilities, including support for Palantir's ImmigrationOS system utilized by ICE. Additionally, the employees pointed out that Google's generative artificial intelligence tools are being deployed by CBP, while the Google Play Store has restricted access to certain tracking applications associated with ICE. The letter referenced a January social media post by Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, emphasizing the need for collective action against injustices. The employees articulated their firm opposition to Google's partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CBP, and ICE, insisting that the leadership has an ethical obligation to disclose all collaborations with these agencies and terminate such partnerships. In their appeal, the workers demanded that Google recognize the risks posed to its employees by ICE, facilitate an internal discussion about its contracts with DHS and military organizations, and implement measures to safeguard personnel, such as flexible remote work options and immigration assistance. They called for clarity about the company's associations with government enforcement bodies to allow for a community-wide dialogue on ethical boundaries. As part of their concluding message, the employees remarked, "As workers of conscience, we demand that our leadership end our backslide into contracting for governments enacting violence against civilians." They expressed a desire to unite as a community to address what they characterize as a troubling trend of private corporations profiting from state-sanctioned repression. Google has yet to respond to these allegations as pressure mounts on tech leaders to take a stand against ICE and its practices, echoing similar sentiments from employees at other major tech firms like Amazon and Spotify just weeks earlier.