GitHub employees sent a letter to their CEO on Wednesday demanding the tech company drop its recently renewed, $200,000 contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing human rights concerns, the Washington Post reports.
What's new: Employees from Microsoft are circulating a letter endorsing their Github subsidiary to cancel the contract after GitHub CEO Nat Friedman stood by the platform's renewal with the government agency, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: Github is the latest company facing pressure from within for accepting government contracts for work that enforces the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Background: In an internal letter released on Tuesday, CEO Friedman said it will renew its contract with ICE to license its GitHub Enterprise Server. The platform, owned by Microsoft, hosts, shares and reviews code. Friedman also pledged Tuesday to donate $500,000 to nonprofits supporting immigrant communities.
- Friedman said in the internal memo that he personally disapproves of ICE's policies.
- Some Github employees said in the letter that the donation seemed like an attempt to mitigate its renewed contract.
Tuesday's letter reads:
Microsoft employees' Wednesday letter said:
In September, 76 protestors were arrested for blocking traffic in New York City while at the Microsoft store on Fifth Avenue. The protesters demanded Microsoft stop allowing ICE to use their technology, CNN reports.
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