Donald Trump

Google Donates $4M to Immigrant Support Groups In Response To Trump's Order

Tech giant Google has donated four million dollars to legal aid and support organizations in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration orders.

Four organizations received a total of four million dollars in “crisis campaign funds” thanks to money raised by both Google employees and company funds. The American Civil Liberties Union, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Agency all received donations.

“We chose these organizations for their incredible efforts in providing legal assistance and support services for immigrants, as well as for their efforts on resettlement and general assistance for refugees globally,” said a Google spokesperson in an email.

The donation comes the same week hundreds gathered at the company's Mountain View campus on Monday to protest President Donald Trump's new immigration orders. Over 2,000 employees protested at different Google campuses around the world.

A crowd amassed at the center of the tech giant's headquarters, many carrying signs that read "#NoBanNoWall," "All are welcome" and "We are a nation of immigrants."

The unofficial rally included several speakers including co-founder Sergey Brin, a Russian immigrant. Google CEO Sundar Pichai criticized Trump’s immigration order in an email to staff on Friday, saying the U.S. ban on foreign nationals from seven countries affects at least 187 Google employees, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The keynote speaker at the Mountain View rally was Soufi Esmaeilzadeh, a product manager on the Google Assistant. Esmaeilzadeh, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, was on a plane from SFO to Zurich when rumors began to leak that the executive order would be signed.

Google’s Immigration team first suggested she not return to the U.S. for an indefinite period of time in order to lessen risk of deportation, according to Google.

Yet the next day, after a federal judge ruled in favor of the ACLU’s request, Esmaeilzadeh decided to fly back to SFO.

No word from Google whether more protests will happen this week or in the future.

Stephen Ellison and Marianne Favro contributed to this article.

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