Friend, Did you know? Microsoft has a $19.4-million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the state police responsible for separating families at the border and worse. Take action: Sign the petition calling on Microsoft leaders to turn their talk into action and drop the contract with ICE. It’s ironic: Right now, you may be checking your email in Microsoft Exchange, and working on a document in Microsoft Word or Excel. You’ve heard Microsoft’s statement of opposition to zero tolerance at the border, and you think the company is a-OK. In reality, the Microsoft you’ve known and used for decades is providing technology the company itself once described as “mission critical” to ICE operations. The product is called Azure, and it has enabled ICE to trap millions of immigrants in a web of family separation, indefinite detention and worse. A horrific new report indicates that detention guards have engaged in all kinds of racist, sexist, Islamophobic, homophobic and transphobic abuses.1 Sign the petition: Tell Microsoft to stop helping the Trump administration violate basic human rights. The Trump administration’s immigration policy is a constant machine of cages and despair for anyone who doesn’t fit its vision for a “great” White America. We can’t imagine what’s next in their toxic plan, but companies like Microsoft can cut off the technology that makes it possible. The calls are already ringing — from inside Microsoft’s own walls. Last week, more than 100 of the tech giant’s employees posted an open letter protesting their employer’s involvement with ICE. This took courage and moral clarity, and now it’s up to us to support their effort. Will you add your voice? Thanks for all that you do— Collette, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team freepress.net P.S. Today marks a nationwide day of action against zero tolerance at the border. Please check the map at FamiliesBelongTogether.org and join an event near you.
1. “Here Is Just Some of the Hateful Abuse Immigrants Face in Detention Centers,” The Nation, June 27, 2018: https://act.freepress.net/go/24129?t=8&akid=9768%2E10296224%2EmLL269 |