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Their view: Executive order is a shameful stain on our country

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<p>NEW YORK (AP) &#8212; Google, Apple and other tech giants expressed dismay over an executive order on immigration from President Donald Trump that bars nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.</p><p>The U.S tech industry relies on foreign engineers and other technical experts for a sizeable percentage of its workforce. The order bars entry to the U.S. for anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.</p><p>The move, ostensibly intended to prevent extremists from carrying out attacks in the U.S., could now also heighten tensions between the new Trump administration and one of the nation&#8217;s most economically and culturally important industries. That&#8217;s especially true if Trump goes on to revamp the industry&#8217;s temporary worker permits known as H-1B visas, as some fear.</p><p><strong>Biting back</strong></p><p>&#8220;I share your concerns&#8221; about Trump&#8217;s immigration order, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a memo to employees obtained by The Associated Press. &#8220;It is not a policy we support.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We have reached out to the White House to explain the negative effect on our coworkers and our company,&#8221; he added.</p><p>Cook didn&#8217;t say how many Apple employees are directly affected by the order, but said the company&#8217;s HR, legal and security teams are in contact to support them. &#8220;Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do,&#8221; Cook wrote &#8212; an apparent reference not only to the company&#8217;s foreign-born employees, but to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian immigrant.</p><p>Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was forcefully blunt. &#8220;Trump&#8217;s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all,&#8221; he wrote on Facebook. &#8220;Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.&#8221;</p><p>Technology investor Chris Sacca, an early backer of Uber and Instagram, said on Twitter that he would match ACLU donations up to $75,000 after the organization sued over the ban &#8212; and then decided to donate another $75,000 , for a total of $150,000. EBay founder Pierre Omidyar, the child of Iranians, complained that the order was &#8220;simple bigotry .&#8221;</p><p><strong>Google grumbles</strong></p><p>Google told its employees from those countries to cancel any travel plans outside the U.S. and to consult with the company&#8217;s human resources department if they&#8217;re not currently in the U.S., according to a company-wide note described to The Associated Press. That memo was first reported by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.</p><p>Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in the note that at least 187 Google workers could be affected by Trump&#8217;s order. It is not clear how many of those workers are currently traveling outside the U.S. &#8220;We&#8217;ve always made our views on immigration known publicly and will continue to do so,&#8221; Pichai said in the memo.</p><p>Microsoft also said it is providing legal advice and assistance to its employees from the banned countries, noting they are all working in the U.S. lawfully.</p><p><strong>A bigger issue</strong></p><p>The tech industry may be bracing for further immigration-related hits. Leaks of draft executive orders, still unverified, suggest that Trump might also revamp the H1-B program that lets Silicon Valley bring foreigners with technical skills to the U.S. for three to six years.</p><p>While the tech industry insists the H1-B program is vital, it has drawn fire for allegedly disadvantaging American programmers and engineers, especially given that the visas are widely used by outsourcing firms. Trump&#8217;s attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, is a long-time critic of the program.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Google, Apple and other tech giants expressed dismay over an executive order on immigration from President Donald Trump that bars nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The U.S tech industry relies on foreign engineers and other technical experts for a sizeable percentage of its workforce. The order bars entry to the U.S. for anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114778615-65be0f2fda38429e8e69c657d506456a.jpg</photo0><caption0>Google, Apple and other tech giants expressed dismay over an executive order on immigration from President Donald Trump that bars nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The U.S tech industry relies on foreign engineers and other technical experts for a sizeable percentage of its workforce. The order bars entry to the U.S. for anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mae Anderson</p><p>AP Technology Writer</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>AP Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this article from Detroit. AP Technology Editor David Hamilton contributed from San Francisco.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tech companies protest Trump immigration order