Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has publicly shared an email he sent to employees, in which he speaks out against current US immigration policy.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has publicly shared an email he sent to employees, in which he speaks out against current US immigration policy.
Describing the separating of children from their families as “cruel and abusive”, he stresses that while Microsoft does work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the work amounts to support for “legacy” services and is in no way related to child separation. The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, also used a blog post to set out the company position on the matter.
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Nadella says that Microsoft is standing for change “in the inhumane treatment of children”, pointing out that he is himself an immigrant and is “appalled” by the treatment that is currently being handed out. He adds that America is a nation of immigrants, saying that Microsoft will stand with every immigrant who works at the country.
Keen to further distance itself from the policies being implemented at the southern border of the US, Nadella says:
In his blog post, Brad Smith reiterates that “Microsoft is a company of immigrants in a nation of immigrants. A high majority of our employees grew up in the United States”. He goes on to says:
Smith sets out Microsoft’s position on immigration policy, in particular two pieces of legislation to be considered by Congress:
But Smiths expresses concern about provisions included in the bill that would seek to reduced legal immigration — something Microsoft regards as important — and the issue of child protection. “The bill would allow children to be held for longer periods of time in more punitive conditions,” he points out and says that the urgency with which matters need to be addressed “should not prevent Congress from addressing the complete range of immigration issues in a fair and humane manner”.
