More Than 800 Google Workers Urge Company to Cancel Any Contracts With ICE and CBP

In a bold and unprecedented move, over 880 Google employees and contractors have united to challenge the tech giant’s potential ties to US immigration authorities, sparking a heated debate about the ethical responsibilities of tech companies in the age of state surveillance and enforcement. The petition, unveiled this week by the activist group No Tech for Apartheid, calls on Google to disclose and cancel any contracts it may have with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including its controversial arms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The letter, signed by workers from across Google’s global workforce, states, “We object to the technology we build being used to power state violence around the world.” This sentiment echoes the growing unease within the tech industry about the role of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data storage in enabling mass deportations, surveillance, and human rights abuses.

One anonymous Google software engineer, speaking to reporters, said, “I stand to benefit from other people’s suffering, which I find abhorrent, and I refuse to be a quiet participant in that system.” Another worker, who identified themselves only as Alex, added, “The technology we create should be a force for good, not a tool for oppression.”

The petition comes amid a broader reckoning within the tech industry over its ties to government agencies. In recent years, companies like Google, Amazon, and Palantir have faced intense scrutiny over their contracts with ICE and CBP. Critics argue that these partnerships enable the agencies to carry out policies that have led to family separations, mass deportations, and the deaths of immigrants in custody.

Google, for its part, has declined to comment on the specific demands of the petition. However, a company spokesperson, speaking anonymously, defended the technologies at issue, stating that they are basic computing and data storage services available to any customer. This response has done little to quell the concerns of workers, who argue that even seemingly innocuous tools can be weaponized when placed in the hands of agencies with a history of human rights violations.

The timing of the petition is no coincidence. Over the past year, ICE and CBP have come under intense public scrutiny as the Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign. In Minneapolis, confrontations between protesters and federal agents culminated in the fatal shooting of two US citizens by immigration officers. The incidents, captured on widely disseminated videos, have become a focal point of the backlash against the agencies.

The new petition inside Google aims to renew pressure on the company to, at the very least, acknowledge recent events and any work it may be doing with immigration authorities. It was organized by No Tech for Apartheid, a group of Google and Amazon workers who oppose what they describe as “tech militarism,” or the integration of corporate tech platforms, cloud services, and AI into military and surveillance systems.

The petition specifically asks Google’s leadership to publicly call for the US government to make urgent changes to its immigration enforcement tactics and to hold an internal discussion with workers about the principles they consider when deciding to sell technology to state authorities. It also demands Google take additional steps to keep its own workforce safe, noting that immigration agents recently targeted an area near a Meta data center under construction.

This is not the first time Google workers have taken a stand against the company’s government contracts. In 2019, nearly 1,500 employees signed a petition demanding that Google suspend its work with CBP until the agency stopped engaging in what they said were human rights abuses. More recently, staff at Google’s AI unit asked executives to explain how they would prevent ICE from raiding their offices. (No answers were immediately provided to the workers.)

The tech companies have largely either defended their work for the federal government or pushed back on the idea that they are assisting it in concerning ways. Some government contracts run through intermediaries, making it challenging for workers to identify which tools an agency is using and for what purposes.

As the debate over the ethical responsibilities of tech companies continues to intensify, one thing is clear: the workers at Google and other tech giants are no longer willing to remain silent. They are demanding transparency, accountability, and a commitment to human rights from the companies they work for. Whether their voices will be heard remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the conversation about the role of technology in state violence is far from over.

Tags: Google, ICE, CBP, Immigration, Tech Ethics, No Tech for Apartheid, DHS, Surveillance, Human Rights, Tech Workers, Activism, Cloud Computing, AI, Data Storage, Mass Deportations, State Violence, Tech Militarism, Government Contracts, Minneapolis, Trump Administration, Protests, Data Centers, Meta, Palantir, Amazon, Software, Tech Gear, Intermediaries, Transparency, Accountability, Ethical Responsibilities.

Viral Sentences:

• “We object to the technology we build being used to power state violence around the world.”
• “I stand to benefit from other people’s suffering, which I find abhorrent, and I refuse to be a quiet participant in that system.”
• “The technology we create should be a force for good, not a tool for oppression.”
• “Tech workers are no longer willing to remain silent.”
• “The conversation about the role of technology in state violence is far from over.”

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