Google CEO Reportedly Criticizes Trump Order: ‘Painful’ to See Personal Cost of This on Colleagues

As the public outcry over President Trump‘s order to suspend entry into the U.S. for Syrian refugees and from nations like Iran and Libya, reports out this morning say that the CEO of Google himself criticized the move yesterday.

Both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal obtained an email Sundar Pichai sent to employees in which he said this in response to the president’s order:

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. It’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues.

Pichai also addressed the fact that there are, per the WSJ, at least 187 employees who could be adversely impacted by the order. He even talked about the situation two employees in particular find themselves in:

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.”

A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg, “We’re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that create barriers to bringing great talent to the U.S… We’ll continue to make our views on these issues known to leaders in Washington and elsewhere.”

In late 2015, Pichai publicly spoke out after Trump first proposed a Muslim ban.

[image via screengrab]

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