Google Employees Urge Company to Sever Links With ICE
Google is facing renewed internal pressure after hundreds of its employees called on the company to end its involvement with US immigration enforcement agencies, citing ethical concerns over how its technology may be used.
In an open letter released on Friday, close to 900 full-time staff urged Google’s leadership to be more transparent about the role its products and services play within the federal government. The signatories questioned the company’s continued relationships with agencies involved in immigration enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Google holds contracts to provide cloud computing services to several federal departments and maintains partnerships connected to work carried out within immigration enforcement. Some employees say these ties conflict with the values that originally drew them to the company.
One employee, who said he has worked at Google for seven years and identified himself as Alex, described the situation as deeply troubling. Speaking during a call after the letter’s publication, he said he was disillusioned by what he sees as Google’s willingness to support agencies accused of violent and aggressive enforcement practices.
The internal protest follows a broader push within the tech industry. Two weeks earlier, workers from companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta signed a separate letter urging technology firms to withdraw support for the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
Over the past year, the US government has intensified efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, with ICE and CBP agents carrying out operations in multiple cities. Some of these actions have sparked controversy, including incidents that resulted in the deaths of US citizens who were observing enforcement activities.
Employees opposing Google’s involvement have drawn parallels to past activism within the company. In 2018, Google withdrew from Project Maven, a US Department of Defense initiative, after widespread staff protests over the use of artificial intelligence in military drone operations.
Another employee, identified as “S,” said she joined Google three years ago and would not have done so had she known about the company’s work with federal enforcement bodies. She said she did not view Google as a defence or security contractor and felt misled about the nature of its government engagements.
The open letter calls on Google to end all work with the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CBP, offer protections to employees affected by immigration enforcement actions, and hold a company-wide meeting to address staff concerns. Workers also criticised what they described as a lack of communication from senior leadership, including chief executive Sundar Pichai, about the scope of Google’s government contracts.
In recent years, Google has also entered partnerships with major defence and data firms. These include a collaboration with Lockheed Martin involving its Gemini artificial intelligence models, as well as a partnership with Palantir, a company whose software is widely used by US military branches and immigration agencies.
Google confirmed the employment status of the letter’s signatories through company work accounts. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the employees’ demands or the concerns raised in the letter.
