Googlers Are Committed To Direct Action Against The Ban

Google employees in offices around the world staged a walkout today to protest Trump’s executive order banning nationals from Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya from entering the United States for the next 90 days, and Syrian refugees indefinitely.

Here in Mountain View, Google cofounder Sergey Brin — who was photographed over the weekend protesting at San Francisco International Airport — made remarks to a large crowd about how committed he is to direct action against the ban. He shared that his family emigrated from the former Soviet Union to the United States in 1979 to escape persecution as Jews.

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, is Indian and also an immigrant. Pichai criticized Trump’s immigration order in a company-wide email last Friday, saying the ban has affected at least 187 Googlers who live in the U.S. but happened to be traveling when the order came down.

Googlers have donated over $2 million to a crisis fund that will be distributed among nonprofit groups working to support refugees. Google is matching their contributions, to a total of $4 million. People were still making donations at booths around the plaza when the rally ended 45 minutes ago.

Signs at the Mountain View Google campus identified Googlers from affected countries (shown here, "PROUD GOOGLER FROM IRAN," not shown "MY FAMILY WOULD HAVE BEEN TURNED AWAY"), and called on Americans to resist.

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