
Google Criticizes Impact on Staff of Trump Immigration Order - virtuabhi
http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-criticizes-impact-on-staff-of-trump-immigration-order-1485596067?mod=e2tw
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ENOTTY
duplicate
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13505474](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13505474)

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EternalData
More people in tech should speak up about how a blanket ban impacts American
prosperity as a whole. Cutting off your country from an entire pool of human
talent makes no sense to me.

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willstrafach
Many are speaking up, from what I have seen.

Interesting sidenote: News about this EO was getting flagged and/or falling
fast from the front page last night and this morning. Noticed it occurring for
other political stories lately as well. Has anyone else been noticing this?

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techterrier
Yep, HN doesn't seem to want us talking about it.

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grzm
If you mean HN as in HN members, you may be right. You've both ('willstrafach
and 'techterrier) been around HN long enough to know that political topics in
general tend to lead to a lot of unsubstantial discussion. Members will flag
submissions that they don't feel will have useful discussions on HN. Flags
will down-weight submissions even before the [flagged] tag appears.

Also, discussions can trip the "overheated discussion" trigger due to comment
behavior, which further down-weights submissions. I don't know the details of
how this works, but have seen it in action.

The HN community does a lot of shaping of itself, and there does seem to be a
strong desire to keep the discussions civil and constructive. A lot of the
discussion around topics such as these generate more heat than light, which
doesn't benefit the HN community.

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dharmon
For those without a subscription:

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai criticized President Donald Trump’s
immigration order in an email to staff late Friday, saying the U.S. ban on
foreign nationals from seven countries affects at least 187 Google employees.

“We’re upset about the impact of this order and any proposals that could
impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create
barriers to bringing great talent to the US,” Mr. Pichai said in the email,
according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “It’s painful to see
the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues.”

Mr. Trump on Friday signed an executive order that, for at least 90 days, bans
people from seven Muslim-majority nations—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,
Syria and Yemen—from entering the U.S. The order also indefinitely bans Syrian
refugees from the U.S. and suspends the broader refugee program. Mr. Trump
said the order was to keep out “radical Islamic terrorists.”

Humans-rights advocates criticized the move as religious persecution. Now two
leading tech executives are speaking out against the order.

Earlier on Friday, Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook
page that he was concerned by the order. “We need to keep this country safe,
but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat,” he
wrote.

In his message to employees, Mr. Pichai suggested at least 187 employees
hailed from countries included in the ban. “Our first order of business is to
help Googlers who are affected,” he said. “If you’re abroad and need help
please reach out to our global security team.”

Mr. Pichai, who grew up in India, said that at an internal meeting on Friday
broadcast to all staff, two Google employees apparently affected by the policy
discussed their situations. They were “grappling with what this might mean for
them and their families,” he wrote. “Just as that discussion was happening,
another Googler was rushing back from a trip to New Zealand to make it into
the US before the order was signed.”

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., said in a statement, “We’ll continue to make
our views on these issues known to leaders in Washington and elsewhere.”
Bloomberg News previously reported Mr. Pichai’s email to staff.

Microsoft Corp. is concerned about the impact of Mr. Trump’s order on
employees from the listed countries and is providing them with legal advice
and assistance, a spokesman said. In a Securities and Exchange Commission
filing earlier this week, Microsoft said changes to U.S. immigration policies
could inhibit staffing for research and development efforts.

Immigrants make up much of the workforce in Silicon Valley, including many
executive roles, and the tech industry has long advocated for more open
immigration laws in the U.S., saying they need more skilled foreigners to fill
technical jobs.

Silicon Valley widely supported Hillary Clinton over Mr. Trump, and he and
some tech executives clashed during the presidential campaign. But those
executives were largely silent during President Trump’s first week, even as he
made several moves that appeared to push against their principles, including
on climate change and net neutrality, a policy that requires internet
providers to treat all traffic equally.

But Mr. Trump’s immigration order appears to immediately be affecting some of
the companies’ operations, apparently causing some executives to speak up.

“We wouldn’t wish this fear and uncertainty on anyone—and especially not our
fellow Googlers,” Mr. Pichai wrote. “In times of uncertainty, our values
remain the best guide.”

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thearn4
I keep hitting the WSJ paywall, but found an article on the subject at
Business Insider:

[http://www.businessinsider.com/google-recalls-staff-to-us-
tr...](http://www.businessinsider.com/google-recalls-staff-to-us-trump-
immigration-order-sundar-pichai02017-1)

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grzm
The web link works intermittently for me. Yesterday it did for another
article, today it doesn't for this one.

This seems to work for others:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13502730](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13502730)

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SlipperySlope
Maybe google can pay for entry-level us citizens to fill their needs.

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EternalData
Maybe green card holders/work visas can pay taxes, build companies, hire
people and contribute to American prosperity while not drawing benefits,
rather then get the door slammed in their face.

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_callcc
Management is upset they will no longer be able to use H1Bs to cheapen the
value of labor. This executive order won't have a big impact but they see it
coming.

The real issue is competition on the world market.

If capital loses a single cent due to this competition they argue for (and
win) trade protections and capital controls.

If labor fights against increased competition they're seen as provincial
racists who can only compete if they maintain an artificial advantage.

Google should be forced to repatriate its $50 billion in cash held offshore
and pay some damn taxes for a change. If they get a tax holiday on $50 billion
I should get one for life. Why am I paying nearly 40% of what I earn in taxes
while these companies pay nothing?

