Great. So Microsoft will be exiting the markets in China, Russia, Middle East and most third world countries.
6
My earlier comment left out the important fact that former Facebook employees launched a fundraising campaign for immigrant families. THANK YOU for this work!
4
I am so happy to witness the courage of these Microsoft employees. Their action is comparable to the actions of the United Methodist Church complainants. Those of us with conviction and conscience must stand up to evil and hate.
2
Ask these high paid Microsoft employees if they welcome the immigrants as their next door neighbors,,,better yet as their daughters boyfriend?
Immigration...
An example of a problem that the last administration punted on, leaving the hard work to now.
Add that to the list of problems that is being take care of, now.The problem will be solved and then The Press=Liberals=Democrats will come up with another dream to bring Trump down.
And he keeps going on , and on ,,and on..doing things.
7
This is the same argument that we have heard historically used against Gypsies, Jews, Blacks, the Irish, the Italians, the Polish, the Japanese, the Chinese. Have you learned nothing from history? Which of these outcast groups did your ancestors come from because if you aren’t American Indian you and all your family before you are IMMIGRANTS — some with, some without “papers.”
10
@B. Rothman:
A great many of the working class have lost their jobs to illegal aliens who are illegally hired by unscrupulous employers at below market rates and poor working conditions (they can't complain, after all) -- a problem easily ameliorated by national laws mandating eVerify technology, which is already used by honest employers.
Trump also campaigned to address H1-B Visa abuse for STEM workers such as the case of Disney of Florida missing the H1-B Visas to replace 250 American IT workers with cheaper Indian imports.
2
I'm not an immigrant or descendant of immigrants to the United States. My ancestors came here starting in 1627 as employees of the Dutch West India Company. Others who came here were not persecuted and came before there was a United States Of America.
1
Thank you Microsoft employees. We are not all fascists.
9
The title of this article is extremely misleading. Microsoft employs 124,000 individuals.
The proper title would be:
100 Microsoft Employees Protest Work With ICE, as Tech Industry Mobilizes Over Immigration
7
So, these employees don't want the U.S to enforce its immigration law? What kind of a world are we living when rational people can't see past their biases?
What will the get behind next? Releasing all the vagrants out onto our streets to spite a guy named DT?
Amazing!
4
What kind of freedom of speech is there when ordinary people are criticized for openly doing what this nation actually prides itself on: speaking your own mind. Is freedom of speech only to apply to Tweets from the President? Only to Biblical (mis)quotes from the Attorney General?
5
Those suffering humans you refer to as vagrants already live on the streets in large part because your conservative Republican hero, Ronald Reagan, closed psychiatric hospitals as governor of California. There is no need for Microsoft workers to advocate their release; they’ve been out for decades. Many liberals, businesses, underfunded nonprofits, and a few principled conservatives have been trying to mitigate that Republican-led disaster ever since. Did I mention that Republicans did it?
I know it’s unfashionable to argue from facts, but if this were a basketball game, you’d be benched for this
howler. May I suggest posting it on a site with a more receptive demographic. You’d receive 100 likes (and maybe a marriage proposal!) elsewhere as long as you blame it on Fox News’ eternal scapegoats. Right leaning folks & trolls on this this site repeat the same Infowars talking points daily, so there’s a lot of duplicated effort. Your comment is (at least) original; most of them are just boring. Fact-checking them is about challenging as beating a 10-year-old at checkers. It might be a better use of our time to relax with a nice cold beer. I’m going to take my own advice right now!
4
Interesting coming from employees of companies that actively discriminate against older people applying for jobs with them. Not for nothing, but what about the dignity and human rights of older Americans who apply for IT jobs and can't find them?
I'm glad that Microsoft employees recognize the problems Trump's policies are creating. What about Microsoft itself and FaceBook and LinkedIn, and Google, and others? These companies hire and fire Americans like we're nothing but paper to be shredded when they've burnt us out. Why do they care more about immigrants seeking asylum than citizens in America who cannot find jobs, who are qualified, and who are struggling to survive? Is it because the immigrants seeking asylum can't challenge them and their policies?
9
It is possible to care about more than one issue at a time, you know. In the age of Trump, it's also necessary.
10
No, it is because babies and children are being taken away from their mothers and fathers and put in cages.
10
David MD--typical of people who don't understand that progress, like running, does not occur in one stride. It take many to run a mile, just as it took this country to go from Article 1, Sec. 2 of the U.S. Constitution to the 13th Amendment.
Hats off to Microsoft and for showing the world that there are citizens and non-citizens alike living in the U.S. who maintain a healthy well of morality and good will toward humanity, no matter where that humanity is situated.
God Bless
9
@Langord:
"....showing the world that there are citizens and non-citizens alike living in the U.S..."
My issue in not with non-citizens of whom many are living legally in the US, but rather only those persons living in this country illegally.
The issue is nothing like slavery people (or their ancestors) who were brought to this country but rather one of people seeking to live here illegally.
Many American working class have lost jobs to illegal aliens and the children in those families have suffered as a result.
Democrats such as FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ used to care for the working class but the New Democrats no longer do and Trump won as a result.
Can you really imagine FDR, Truman, JFK, or LBJ taking $675,000 for 3 talks from Goldman, the very icon of the 2008 financial crisis that harmed so very many Americans and then to call half of the people who felt abandoned by the Democrats "basketful of deplorables" as Hilary Clinton did?
5
It would be interesting to know how many foreign workers Microsoft employs - both here and abroad. All of the major computer players are expanding big-time overseas. Microsoft, IBM, and Cray just to name a few.
This has shaped up into an interesting conundrum. These companies all say that they can't find local talent, and need to hire foreign engineers. But the local engineering talent here in the U.S. can't find jobs. This conundrum seems to be reflected in national immigration policy. On the one hand Government says that the unemployment rate is virtually nil; and on the other hand they're booting out the foreign workers. Perhaps the Government has finally stopped believing its own propaganda.
10
In opposition to slavery and John C. Calhoun's unswerving support of it,
William H. Seward said "there is a higher law than the Constitution". [March, 1850]
That remark followed him the rest of his political career and may have cost him the Presidency.
I can find no evidence that Seward ever regretted the remark as befits a man of conscience.
6
As much as corporate behemoths wish employees did not have opinions, they need to in order to bring the best they are to their work.
Thank God Microsoft allows for this sort of thing. This kind of employee led action makes it worth working there.
10
If Microsoft withdraws from ANY Government Business then they should withdraw from ALL Government Business.
The software in question is helping a branch of the government, ICE, that has to do with enforcing laws regarding people who break the law to come to this country illegally.
Meanwhile, I don't see many Microsoft employees complaining about Microsoft's misuse of H1-B Visas hiring non-citizens at lower rates over American citizens.
The current situation occurred because both the Bush and Obama administrations neglected to pass an eVerify program that would ensure that dishonest law breaking employers would not illegally hire people by law not allowed to work in the US.
Obama was able to pass the Affordable Care Act because Democrats were in charge of both the Senate and the House. He could have done the responsible thing and passed eVerify laws, but did not.
If he cared about the law, Obama could have worked to pass eVerify legislation in during the years 2008 to 2010. Had he done so, the current situation which Trump *inherited* would have been prevented.
Now Trump is rightfully asking Congress to pass laws to correct the situation he inherited from Bush and Obama.
9
The president can do two things at once: tell congress to change the current law creating this untenable situation, while also utilizing his singular power to stop it from occurring while they do so.
No side is winning.
3
David
"The current situation occurred" because Republicans (and a few Democrats) specifically refused to consider any immigration legislation for decades. McConnell, your ghastly man of the hour, refused to allow an immigration bill to reach the floor.
Republicans repeatedly refused action on eVerify.
You can blame Obama for whatever you like, or for everything more likely, but that in no way relieves Republicans of responsibility, nor does it change the fact that this is an entirely artificial crisis brought on, like the DACA hoo-hah, by Trump himself. This issue never existed until Trump decided he would create it.
I know you will attribute this to Trump's negotiating brilliance, but that would mean he is willing to inflict cruel and lasting pain on children just to get his way. Not a plus from over here.
Let me ask you a favor here, or two:
Please tell your friends to stop with the "open borders" and "immigrants massing at the Southern border" stuff. It makes you look foolish, and sound like hysterical ninnies and its just a lie.
Trump is not "trying to "correct" anything, he is using this hysteria to pressure Congress to give him his idiot wall. A wall, by the way, many ICErs consider wasteful and ineffective.
When people believe they are running for their lives, no wall is going to stop them. And drug lords can afford boats, airplanes, and dig really, really good tunnels.
Take away: Trump inherited none of this, he made it himself.
6
@Lissa:
What you say sounds good theoretically, but Congress has delayed passing eVerify laws for years. Trump telling them to do something now won't make it happen.
What will make it happen is for constituents to pressure their Congressmen to finally pass a law like eVerify protecting American working class from having their jobs taken away from them by unscrupulous employers that break the law and hire illegal aliens at lower wages.
There are American children who are suffering because their parents have lost jobs because unscrupulous employers hire illegal aliens instead of their American parents.
Congress could pass a law fixing the entire mess in a few days, instead they want to use those children as a political football.
2
If tech companies take their social responsibility role serious, they will be in stark contrast to gun companies, making for a fascinating natural-experiment study. I wish I could do that research.
The comparison is apt, given the harm that can be inflicted in the cyber realm and artificial intelligence. Both gun and software companies produce goods that can be used to harm or hurt others. Both need regulations, a keen sense of social responsibility, and a moral compass if they are to protect us.
Unfortunately, gun companies have abdicated their role in reasoned debate and self-regulation. Will tech companies be similarly complicit in atrocities large and small through negligence and myopic thinking?
5
Tech companies take their social responsibilities seriously until it affects their bottom line. That's why they don't hire older highly qualified people, very experienced people, or too many Americans. It's easier to hire immigrants who are then indebted to them for being able to live in the United States or to outsource jobs and claim that it's more efficient.
Tech companies, like every other company in America, do not care about human rights. They care about their profits.
5
I often find myself defending decisions taken by businesses that fly in the face of elites seeking to impose one-sided social convictions on our people generally.
However, in this instance, I have to say that neither Microsoft nor its employees are South Carolina circa 1861 and they are not delegated the power to determine the modalities of our governance. We have laws that were fashioned by consensus and democratic processes. If they disagree with those laws or their applicability to employees of Microsoft, then all I can recommend is that they find recourse in our federal courts, where I suspect they'll be roundly lectured by judges about the obligations of citizens to obey laws found to be constitutional.
The "letter" basically defends the same principle that caused a baker engaged in a business offering his products to the public, ostensibly to any who could pay for them, to refuse to make them for a same-sex couple, based on religious convictions.
If some at Microsoft wish to deny ICE THEIR products, then the only legitimate way of doing that is to get out of the business of offering those products to ANYONE. Heaven knows how the Microsoft board would react to THAT.
9
Similar to the governors refusing to send National Guards to defend the border. Yet they have no problem turning them on American citizens during protests.
Perhaps Trump should do like Eisenhower and federalize the national guards.
2
Responding to the writer who analogized to the wedding cake case, and said Microsoft can’t withhold its services — The CO cake baker technically won, because of an intemperate government worker. At least for now, that means that a business can choose whom it wants to serve, or not. While I think Microsoft repudiating ICE, DHS, HHS and ORR would be great, I’d want to be sure that withholding software services would not corrupt the records that will be needed to re-unite children with their parents. Watching the various overwhelmed and understaffed bureaucracies at work, I fear that is a certainty anyway.
1
Wouldn't it be nice if there were some policy that was effective and humane that could be supported. Protesting against cruelty is good, important, but it gets nowhere if there is no alternative offered that we can support. Immigration must be a compromise. It must be done through legal channels, we can't let everyone in, and we have to enforce our laws. Both parties need to get behind all of that and get an immigration bill done. And I say this for pragmatic reasons. Dems will lose on this issue and they are the only humane voices, but open borders just will not cut it.
4
Smart.
It is not an open border policy. Back in 2001, we had well over a million folks trying to come in through the Southern border. Now it is a fraction of it. The crowd that is knocking on our gates down there now is a genuine refugee group - fleeing horrific violence and abject poverty and hopelessness. Treat them as refugees seeking asylum, vet them together as families, process them or deny them, but do it without destroying human rights, or to "make an example of them for others", and do it without compromising on long held American principles of fair play and moral leadership.
America will last longer than Trump and his cronies. Republicans better remember that as they play with her future.
9
Mr. Gates I saw an interview where you described you and your wife's feeling as Trump described his meeting with your daughter. Disgusted by Trump's behavior. Now think about the parents' feeling who are having their babies and children stolen from them by the Trump administration employees "just following orders". Drop the contract or force them to drop the policy. There isn't going to be a dollar Microsoft will earn from this administration that will buy back your soul.
12
Bill Gates isn't the CEO of Microsoft nor does he have any decision making power. He wasn't the one who made this contract deal because he doesn't dictate Microsoft anymore. This is all on Satya Nadella to cancel the stupid contract.
2
The tech companies can include in their terms of service that their products usage must comply with all local, state, federal and INTERNATIONAL laws or the product may be disabled at any time. Since the iCETAPO actions are in violation of treaties the US has signed and have been ratified (thus supercede the US Constitution) the tech companies have the power to control the use of their products. In the Museum of Computer History in Silicon Valley you will see a 1930's photo of the head of IBM selling data processing equipment to the Chancellor of Germany, IBM punch card equipment identified the ethnicity of citizens of the Reich.
5
Thanks to those Microsoft Employees who do not want work with ICE. You are good human being.
14
I agree with everyone on this board that the administration should stop separating families
But I have a question for all of you
What is your plan to stop illegal immigration?
7
One of the root causes of the crime and corruption that drive illegal emigration from Central America is the drug trade, and the USA is largely responsible because we provide the market for drugs. We must devote more resources to developing safe communities in Central American and to ending illegal drug trade. Otherwise, the drug cartels will continue to create hellish conditions that force people to leave their homes.
11
They will have a plan as soon as the illegals get free education, preferential admissions to colleges and start taking their high paying jobs.
2
Before they fire these employees, Microsoft should make them train their freshly green-carded replacements from Mumbai....
11
Nadella will just go to Trump, ask for more H1Bs in order to replace those troublemakers with good little Indians.
13
If these employees truly believe in what they are saying they should resign. Put your money where your mouth is or shut up. The company can do what it wishes with or without your blessing.
6
This is not the either-or situation you paint. Employees’ outcry and demands for their company to take its social responsibility seriously can be constructive, keeping these employees at the table as tech comes to terms with its role in society.
4
I wish the letter had stated what international law was broken but I guess the fact that either none exists or that the U.S. has never signed any such agreement should not get in the way of a good story.
4
Tech companies need to do more than send out twitter messages about their “concerns” about this horrific immigration policy. Saying positive isn’t the same as doing positive.
2
In fact the tech skills should be devoted to the protection of undocumented immigrants and other targeted groups. They can develop a warning system announcing when ICE agents or their equivalent are in the vicinity. And that is just the first thing that occurs to me.
The people written about here are much more imaginative than I am and are capable of breathtaking innovations.
4
But i thought that the Liberal view was that a business HAD to sell to anyone who wanted to buy? Was that not the whole reason for the condemnation of Masterpiece Bakery, that they refused to create a product for people the felt a moral objection to?
How, then, can Microsoft be under fire for selling their goods and services to anyone who wants to purchase them, like the law says they must?
9
Masterpiece was about discrimination based on religion, which is illegal. This issue is obviously different - it's about the moral use of technology.
4
@EMiller - No, I am not referring to the actual case but to the outcry which preceded it. The majority of those opposed to the bakery stated on numerous occasions that if someone is in business, they have an obligation to sell to anyone who wishes to buy. Yet these same people are now stating that Microsoft should not sell to ICE, a customer who wished to buy.
Either a company has a right to refuse to sell on the basis of moral objections, which is what the baker did and the employees and their supporters want Microsoft to do; or they must sell to all comers in which case the supporters or these employees are advocating unethical behavior.
Any other situation is, to me at least, inconsistent.
And you are wrong in your analysis of the case as well. The court did not rule on the right of the baker to refuse to design a cake. It ruled that the Colorado commission did not give him a neutral hearing when they decided the case and that therefore, their ruling was invalid.
1
@rg - The baker felt that his product was being used in an immoral situation as well. The only difference is whether the morals are yours or his.
If you are a person of solid principles, then there are only two alternatives, Either a company must sell its product to all all buyers, in which case Microsoft is acting ethically and Masterpiece was not, or a company has the right to decline to sell its product if it is being used in a fashion the company feels is immoral, in which case Masterpiece was acting ethically and Microsoft may not be.
Any other alternative seems to me to be stating that a company should not sell a product if it is used in a manner I do not agree with, but if I agree with the stance then the company has no right to withhold it wares.
Edward Snowden they are not. If only more tech companies would not design and make all of that spyware for our federal government too. It's not ok to produce illegal immigration programs but for the rest of American's privacy and other questionable software tracking, they are ALL IN. So morally, PC self congratulating these Microsoft employees are.
3
Thank heavens these folks are not Edward Snowdens. The Microsoft folks are standing up and speaking out, and making themselves accountable by name for their views. That is a far cry from Snowden who is still hiding in Russia. Speaking for myself, I still don't know what to make of Snowden. When will he come back and take responsibility for his actions? It is difficult to believe that he hasn't already turned over everything he has to Russian intelligence, intentionally or accidentally, willingly or not, given the nature of Russian intelligence.
As for Microsoft's privacy and transparency policies, they are much better than those of Facebook or Google where the many abuses should by now be familiar to all of us. Take, for instance, how Russia coopted both Facebook and YouTube (part of Google) in order to undermine our democratic elections.
"Nomas" wrote:
"Edward Snowden they are not. If only more tech companies would not design and make all of that spyware for our federal government too. It's not ok to produce illegal immigration programs but for the rest of American's privacy and other questionable software tracking, they are ALL IN. So morally, PC self congratulating these Microsoft employees are."
2
Time has come to boycot Microsoft. This can't be tolerated.
4
Well, I for one will not be using any Microsoft products until this policy of theirs is changed.
4
"Well, I for one will not be using any Microsoft products until this policy of theirs is changed."
Your pledge would sound more sincere if you said what software you used to post your comment.
1
Microsoft employs a large number of people on H1-B visas. In 2018, Microsoft received the second largest amount of approved H1-B visas (1479). So, I’m not surprised that people who aren’t American citizens, and who stand to benefit from a weakened ICE, are requesting that Microsoft not do certain government work. I’m sure Microsoft didn’t analyze which requesters are here on visas versus citizens, but with the large number of visa holders they employ, its reasonable to assume that some are not citizens.
It makes me very uneasy that people who are not citizens get involved in our government and politics, and I believe this is supporting rationale to severely limit the H1-B program and the spousal visas. Not to mention Microsoft has enjoyed plenty of tax breaks and benefitted from technology invented by the US defense. It’s shameful if Microsoft goes along with this request.
14
Well, Russia got involved in our election for President and by HHS's assessment is continuing to do so for the next election. Are you uneasy about that? The majority of people at Microsoft are not H1-B recipients. Do you think that people regardless of their place of birth aren't entitled to have a moral center? Every person in this country is a descendant of immigrants or is an immigrant. We are all entitled to be treated with dignity and respect until we prove ourselves unworthy.
24
China, Israel and Pakistan just to name a few have tried to influence our elections. So enough with the big bad Russians, this isn't the 1950s.
Hillary was a horrible candidate who deserved to lose and one of the reasons she lost was her advocating open borders.
The tech industry relies on cheap foreign labor and is rife with sexism and racism. So much for their morality. They are just advocating for cheap labor.
1
Let’s stay on topic, which is currently Microsoft. It’s a clear conflict for anyone here on a visa to try to persuade Microsoft to not work on ICE contracts. If a visa holder has an issue with it, they should leave the US. Microsoft and their employees, including visa holders, benefit greatly from the US government. Hypocrites.
7
If this work isn’t stopped today, selling my Microsoft stock. Bill Gates, you present yourself as a humanitarian-prove it.
10
100 people at Microsoft understand right from wrong. Where are the others? I commend the 100, but am shocked it isn't 10,000 employees. Everyone has to take a stand or we will be like a cruel Russian dictatorship sooner than you know. Stand up, America!
29
Good job Microsoft employees! Don't let the present gulag mentality win.
8
Did they compose that letter while riding on their special company buses while rolling past all the homeless and displaced in San Francisco?
I know American tech workers who have packed up and left because the living situation is so bad unless you are rich. The tech industry is in shambles because they rely on contracted Americans to clean up the mess of their visa workers. They are also discovering a lot of those visa workers lied about their credentials and have been spying or stealing.
This is hilarious from one of the most sexist, racist , and anti American labor industries in the nation. Next up, going after these companies and their abuse of the visa system to displace Americans.
13
Microsoft isn't a Silicon Valley company.
5
Microsoft has campuses all over California and that includes a major one in Silicon Valley.
You want the address?
Microsoft Technology Center – Silicon Valley
1065 La Avenida St, Mountain View, CA 94043
1
“We believe that Microsoft must take an ethical stand, and put children and families above profits.”
Students of Microsoft history must be forgiven for rolling on the floor and laughing their off.
18
In the article it is written, "...The letter added that Microsoft should not only cancel its contract with ICE but be open to a review of its contracts with government agencies domestically and internationally, and that it should create a policy stating it would not work with those 'who violate international human rights law'..." OUTSTANDING letter. ALL companies should cease working with ICE until they stop violating human rights, and that goes double for the White House, Donald Trump, and everyone in his administration.
31
This letter is a perfect example of why the democrats and so called liberals are losing the votes of so many Americans, including black Americans.
The hypocrisy in this letter being put out by Microsoft employees is astounding.
11
"Hypocrisy"
Trump technique #1 : accuse and blame others of your own crimes.
#eyerolling
#stomachturning
7
"The hypocrisy in this letter being put out by Microsoft employees is astounding."
What "hypocrisy"? Please explain.
4
The tech industry is one of the most racist and sexist in the country. They need to check their own morality before preaching.
Would the NYT please publish the names of the businesses represented at the conference DJT spoke at tues. Those representatives loudly applauded DJT policy of holding children hostages for his wall. I want to boycott those businesses as well as all the contractors participating in support of this folly. Please.
89
I want this same information of business attendees at this Nazi/KKK rally at the Hyatt Regency in DC on Tuesday. No one I know would want their dollars going to support any of these businesses in their communities. I called 800-634-2669 and was told I could join for 195.00 and receive a list of members. I then called the DC number - 202-554-9000 and was told someone would get back to me. I am waiting, but I think they are ALEC/KOCH Brothers connected.
8
If this policy of breaking up families at the border is waking up tech firms and workers regarding the things they are unleashing on humanity, that it a tiny crack of light shining under the door.
4
The employee letter refers to "international human rights law", but the embedded link doesn't seem to be active. The Times should explain what "law" the letter is referring to.
Are you suggesting it isn't against international law?
Don't understand how Google works?
3
Andy: "Are you suggesting it isn't against international law?"
The authors of the letter have the burden of proof.
Andy: "Don't understand how Google works?"
Don't try to shift the burden of proof to me.
1
IBM, the Hollerith Machine, and the Nazi 'census' and subsequent application of Hollerith in their 'final solution'. Shame on IBM -
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/black-ibm.html...
1
"Shame on IBM"
Numerous companies worked for the German government during the Nazi period, so why are you singling out IBM?
3
Return The Children & Resign In Disgrace! Trump the Abominable doesn't represent who we are called to be in the slightest. End this outrage! Kudos to all the companies and citizens around the world who will never let this stand! Boycott Evildoers.
16
Space us human earthlings, with all your soppy morality. When the artificial intelligence your hands have helped create takes over and runs the show, see what all your precious feelings are worth then. Sorry, too late for you to try and pretend you care.
4
Your logic is AI development makes any moral (where'd "soppy" come from?) stance a pretense? Given this perspective, I don't think it's our robot overlords that we need to fear.
1
It's the human owners of the robots who pull the strings, and watch their stock value go up up up.
I have a concern about this action. While I highly favor doing whatever can be done to stop the horror of separating families, I wonder when the next government action happens that I might favor. Would I then support employees taking a stand opposing such an action to force their company not to fulfill its government contract?
It is a dilemma to me - Strong employee statements are wonderful and they should feel free to speak up when they want without fear of reprisal. To ask the company not to carry out its contract remains questionable to me.
2
Sincerely, why?
Good little drones are the cogs and fuel of tyranny...
5
"Strong employee statements are wonderful and they should feel free to speak up when they want without fear of reprisal."
That sounds great, but the next logical step is for employees "to speak up" when they disapprove of drivers who are buying gas for their SUVs or shoppers who are buying shoes made with leather.
2
This is a good start, but the press needs to identify, and there then needs to be a public outcry at and boycott of, other suppliers to ICE. Who is supplying the tents ICE is putting the children in? Who is supplying the fencing? Where does ICE buy its vehicles etc. etc.
40
"Where does ICE buy its vehicles ..."
If you look at a few photos, you will find Chevy, Jeep, and Ford vehicles. Are you going to boycott all those American companies?
2
Good for those Microsoft employees. Like other tech companies, Microsoft is currently desperate for talent, so now is a good time for employees to use their leverage to get management to do the right thing and refuse to assist the evil actions of ICE. Other tech companies will take note.
16
As a Microsoft shareholder and an independent developer I stand with these employees. If MSFT is doing anything to promote this unethical, inhumane activity it should stop.
14
Ethics over profits! What a novel idea! I wonder if the GOP can grasp this concept.
18
"Mat Marquis, an independent developer who works with Microsoft, also said in a tweet on Monday that he no longer planned to work with the company because of its ICE contract. When he receives his last payment from Microsoft, he said, he plans to donate the money to a group providing support to families that had been separated at the border."
The Times should have done more than take that at face value. When does his contract with Microsoft end? How much "money" will he actually be "donating"?
10
@WEV
The Times quoted Marquis. That's the most that they should do. We have a U.S. president who refuses to release his tax returns, and has lied in the past about his donations to charity, but we're concerned about the truth of the Marquis statement? That statement is not essential to this news report.
8
This is kind of silly, rather like refusing to pay one's taxes because some of the money goes to the Defense Department or the CIA or Planned Parenthood or whatever controversial use.
I should think the technocrats in Silicon Valley would love to see technology used to speed up the identification and processing of illegal aliens so any separation of families is minimized and that the claims of those seeking asylum can be expedited.
10
Children don't need to be separated from their parents in the first place. Efficiency is not desirable when what's to be achieved by it is immoral.
12
When an American parent commits a crime, his/her children do not accompany him/her to jail. So it is with adult illegal aliens; they are detained and provision is made for care of their children. Also, in some cases it is necessary to determine whether youngsters are actually the children of those claiming to be their parents (one of many forms of gaming the system).
The US has immigration laws that allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws and procedures are in this country illegally (i.e., lawbreakers) and should be detained and deported. This is how it is done in other countries, too, not just the US.
The US cannot afford to support its own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al. It is therefore utterly impossible for US taxpayers to support the millions of people from other countries who would like to come to the US. That is why there are laws limiting the numbers of immigrants allowed into this country each year.
The cruelty lies not in detaining and deporting illegal aliens, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to wait for processing. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is teaching foreigners how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, abuse, etc.
Note: The children referred to are well cared for in very good living conditions, not in "cages" as shown in deliberately misleading photos published in the media.
1
Warm support to those MS employees who are displaying the moral fibre to speak out against Trump's wicked abuse of innocent children. His pretence that others are to blame for his own blatant cruelty are outrageous. His lies about being impotent to solve a problem of his own making must be exposed on every medium.
50
If Microsoft employees can do this, the least I can do is to share my letter to my two senators and Congresswoman about our current holiday cruise toward dystopia. I ask all readers to take some action, to apply some pressure in your own way on those who govern in our name, for better or worse. Thank you.
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Dear Senator Warren,
As my United States Senator from Massachusetts, I must tell you that I have been following the parent-child separation crisis along the southern US border. What has been intolerable has now become a state-sanctioned human rights crime. It is state-sponsored terrorism. Such crime is being committed in my name, and in yours.
As your constituent, I ask that you organize with your colleagues in both houses of Congress with the goal of referring the perpetrators of these crimes against parents and vulnerable children to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The weight of these crimes warrants international prosecution.
This must be done. Please use your powers of leadership to hold the criminals of our national Executive Branch to account.
Thank you for your support and your human compassion.
John LeBaron
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"... these crimes against parents and vulnerable children ..."
You need to cite specific "crimes" with an exact legal citation.
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Sent virtually the same to my two senators from Michigan on Monday.
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Good. This is not an issue of Right or Left, it's decency vs. the depravity of separating children of all ages from parents...made even worse by having no process that returns that child to the mom or dad.
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Nancy G,
You are right, this is about decency. At the same time there also is no process right now to return the toddlers and children stolen from their parents by the U.S. government, and now the former Director of ICE says that it could take years to have these children reconnect with their parents. In the 1960's, NASA was able to fly astronauts to the moon. In 2018 our Federal Government and the White House know how to steal children, but somehow have no idea where exactly they all are nor how they can ever get these children and their parents together again. How could our country become this cruel and stupid?
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Microsofts leaders are dodging the issue. It isn't that they are giving tech support to separating children specifically, but by giving tech support to ICE, they are supporting the agency that is wrenching babes from their parents to be put god knows where and to see their parents god knows when. As long as microsoft works with ICE, microsoft is complicit.
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Right out of Dr. King's playbook. This was one of the most effective weapons during the heyday of the Civil Rights movement. Today, we have a human rights crisis that will end sooner when companies like Microsoft become more outspoken in their outrage. These employees are displaying good citizenship.
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Do not compare the civil rights movement and American citizens fighting for their rights to illegal immigrants. Martin Luther King also fought for labor rights and illegal immigrant workers have been used to undermine those rights. They need to return to their countries and fight battles there.
The tech industry in fact is one of the most racist industries in America. They need to take a look at their own actions.
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So we've gone from the college campus to the corporate campus with protests. It's time to GROW UP. If you don't like it, quit.
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But instead they will lead their company in an ethical and moral direction. Good for them.
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No... you’re wrong.
If you don’t like it do what these employees are doing. Tech employees in particular - because of their value to these organizations - have a powerful voice and I’m proud of them for using it.
Remember, this week we heard an alternative. We heard attendees of the NFIB conference cheering for Donald Trump as he dehumanized immigrants and their children. To me there is no difference between their cheers and your preference for silence.
Maybe it’s time for so many people like you to close your copy of the new testament and search for your soul.
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Seems worth it to slow our march toward fascism.
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This a great step in the right direction, and it's a sign of how wonderfully woke the entire tech field is becoming.
Two years ago, Apple prevented the authorities from investigating the content of a terror suspect's phone (the man accused of shooting up an ethno-centric Christmas party in San Bernardino). Apple stood its ground, and effectively shut down a toxic case of Islamophobia that could have resulted in the deportation of many of the suspect's friends and family members, just for rightfully being critical of US foreign policy.
This year, Google refused to lend its analytics and AI recognition capabilities to the Federal government.
And for a long time now, tech vendors have been doing an amazing job of using guest worker Visas to help us become a more diverse, more vibrant, and less white society.
Tech truly is the future!
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"We are still a country of law..."
Honestly? You believe this? Because I have a bridge...
For all that, and granting your "civilized society", one key element of our society is the ability to make decisions of conscience.
If Microsoft, or anyone, chooses not to work with the government it is important we allow them that choice.
Its certainly a refreshing change from, say, the private social services provider that went from helping immigrant kids adjust to a new home to grabbing billions of dollars of my money to pacify kids held in forced detention with no future, no legal process of any import, and no parents.
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I vote with my feet all the time. It will be very impressive if Microsoft will allow its employees to vote with their feet
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They can quit. And when they look for their next gig and asked why they quit, they will have a pathetic answer leading to no job offer.
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Your age is showing, Keith. They would be just fine, most receiving offers of employment within 24 hours of walking out. Power to them.
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@Keith: quitting is like saying if you don't like the path one's country is one, just leave. Or if you don't like being sexually harassed, just quit. It's a glib, non-answer and doesn't address the actual issue.
There is a glaring, inhumane injustice in separating these children from their parents (not surprising given the vile, corrupt administration's actions) and telling people to hide their heads in the sand - "quitting" - punishes innocent people expressing their disgust and outrage, while allowing the perpetrators to further run amok.
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I applaud Microsoft employees for this and beg other companies to do the same.
We are in the existential crisis of our lifetime. What is happening at the highest levels of government mirror the preceding period before global atrocities. It's not just the pathos of xenophobia; it's the acts being taken using legal means.
For example: little has been written about the coming effort to strip the naturalization from people who "are proven to have done so fraudulently". It seems like a reasonable policy, on the face of it. If you dig a little, as I have, the background leading to this new governmental task force is sobering: it came from an unprecedented legal ruling which last year raised eyebrows for the opening it gave Trump. The fear then was that this ruling would allow the new administration to be able to revoke citizenship on the basis of data discrepancies and with only the thinnest of due process.
....and what did the administration do?
They just created an office designed to do just that. On the face of it, it's about fingerprints but mark my words: our next crisis has been created.
This is a low-grade bureaucratic ethnic cleansing of sorts. Not only is this immoral, but it's not in our self interest. It corrodes all our assets: our economy. our global standing. our collective soul.
The average guy is fighting government right now with protest and twitter and it's not enough. We need employees in companies like MS and Fox to say BASTA, enough!
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What happens at the Mexican border I am appalled, But that should not deter companies working with government agencies. We are still a country of law, and that's how we function in a civilized society.
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No! Your argument is one that brought Adolf Hitler to power. Those who enable child abuse must share moral responsiblility for that abuse. Wickedness is wickedness: period.
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I would refer you to MLK Jr.'s April 16, 1963 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" on the topic of natural law and our shared status as persons. The laws you refer to were made and are subject to human and humane discretion, judgment and practice. To say otherwise is to simply acquiesce to the "Just following orders" trope and that has never ended well.
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What law says children must be removed from parents before they are even tried in court? A citation of this supposed law would make your use of the claim "we are still a 'country of law'" to justify this inhumanity far more credible.
A criminal defense lawyer posted on Twitter that immigration violations are technically civil crimes that amount to no more than "criminal trespass", a low level crime that would allow the accused to be released on their own recognizance while awaiting trial. Children are NEVER ever just taken from a parent while he/she awaits trial, especially for civil crimes.
So, if we are truly a country of law, we wouldn't even be doing this because there is no law that justifies this action. So unless you can cite the actual law, stop using "the law" as a shield for heartless human rights violations.
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