Several massive corporations have denounced President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning immigration from several Muslim-majority nations, citing a need for “diversity.”
American auto-maker Ford said Monday that they “are proud of the rich diversity of our company here at home and around the world,” adding, “that is why we do not support his policy or any other that goes against our values as a company.” (RELATED: Ford, General Motors CEOs Just Met With Trump – ‘We’re Excited To Be Working With The President’)
Nike’s CEO and drugmaker Allergan Plc’s CEO both put out similar statements about Trump’s executive order saying it goes against their respective company’s values of “diversity.” Allergan CEO Brent Saunders said the multi-billion dollar company opposes “any policy that puts limitations on our ability to attract the best & diverse talent.”
Among ride-service companies Lyft and Uber, there has been a divide among conservatives and liberals. Lyft put out a statement Saturday condemning President Trump’s executive order and said that they will be donating $1 million over the next four years to the ACLU. Many liberals, however, were unhappy with Uber’s decision to keep servicing customers at New York’s JFK Airport Saturday while the taxi union was having a strike in reaction to Trump’s temporary immigration ban.
The hashtag “DeleteUber” trended on Twitter on Sunday, and at the same time, conservative writers Pamela Geller and Ann Coulter let their Twitter followers know they would be sticking to Uber.
Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick, a member of President Trump’s economic advisory council, eventually came out with a statement saying that “allowing people from all around the world to come here and make America their home has largely been the U.S.’s policy since its founding.”
The Uber statement also said that the multi-billion dollar corporation will seek to compensate the drivers who won’t be allowed in the U.S. for three months.
Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz similarly announced that his company will seek to financially support refugees. “We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question,” Schultz said in a statement Sunday.
The Starbucks founder went on to say that his company is “enthusiastically behind” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s “work to support ‘Dreamers’ across our country.” Schultz announced that the company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over five years in the the 75 countries where Starbucks does business.
However, Center for Immigration Studies executive director Mark Krikorian pointed out on Twitter that Starbucks could be in violation of U.S. law that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of immigration status.