By Rebecca Hersher
January 30,2017
Leaders of several American
companies have announced plans to hire, house or otherwise support people
affected by President Trump's sweeping freeze on people seeking asylum in the
U.S. or traveling from seven largely Muslim countries.
NPR's Carrie Johnson breaks down
the president's executive order on immigration here.
Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard
Schultz says his company plans to hire 10,000 refugees in the next five years
in the 75 countries where it does business.
In a letter
to current employees on Sunday, Schultz said the company would "start this
effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on
those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel
in the various countries where our military has asked for such support."
Starbucks has about 238,000
employees worldwide, 157,000 of whom work in the U.S., according to a 2015 regulatory
filing.
Schultz also directly addressed the
potential effects that "proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions
and taxes" might have on the company's business in Mexico, where it says
it has nearly 600 stores:
"We stand ready to help and
support our Mexican customers, partners and their families as they navigate
what impact proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes might
have on their business and their trust of Americans. But we will continue to
invest in this critically important market all the same."
He also reiterated the company's
past assurance to employees who purchase health insurance under the Affordable
Care Act that they "will always have access to health insurance through Starbucks,"
even if the law is repealed, as congressional Republicans and President Trump
have vowed to do.
The CEO of the global home-rental
company Airbnb, Brian Chesky, wrote on Facebook
that the company is "providing free housing to refugees and anyone else
who needs it in the event they are denied the ability to board a US-bound
flight and are not in your city/country of residence."
"We have 3M homes, so we can
definitely find people a place to stay," he wrote, referring to the
private residences users list for rental through Airbnb.
On its website, Airbnb invited people
to volunteer their homes for free to people affected by the
immigration freeze. "If free housing is not available in certain markets,
Airbnb will subsidize the cost of necessary listings," a spokesperson
wrote in an email to NPR, pointing out that the new policy is part of an
ongoing company program that connects relief workers at refugee camps in Europe
with people volunteering free housing.
The ride-hailing companies Uber and
Lyft also reacted to the order by announcing changes to company policies.
Lyft announced it
would donate $1 million over the next four years to the American Civil
Liberties Union "to defend our constitution."
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said the company was working on a plan to pay drivers "who use
Uber and come from the listed countries, many of whom take long breaks to go
back home to see their extended family. These drivers currently outside of the
U.S. will not be able to get back into the country for 90 days."
Kalanick is one of 19 business
leaders who have accepted positions on Trump's economic advisory team, as Business Insider
reported.
On Sunday, Uber's operation in New
York City pointed to
Kalanick's announcement as evidence that the company was not on
board with the immigration freeze, after its drivers seemingly undercut a
protest of the policy by New York City taxi drivers.
As The Atlantic
reported: "On Saturday, as demonstrators
gathered at John F. Kennedy International Airport to protest
President Trump's immigration ban, the New York Taxi Workers
Alliance (NYTWA) released a
statement condemning the administration's controversial executive
order.
...
"Later, the NYTWA directed its
'largely Muslim,' 19,000 members to participate in a
one-hour strike at JFK in solidarity with the protesters. With
thousands demonstrating boisterously outside the airport, the taxi lines
normally packed with passengers inside the terminal were cordoned off entirely.
And while none of the new arrivals at JFK had any luck hailing a yellow cab,
the effects of the work stoppage were minimized in part by Uber, the
ride-hailing app, which continued to operate at the airport throughout the
strike.
...
"Later, after the NYTWA's work
stoppage ended, Uber tweeted that it had turned off
surge-pricing at JFK, effectively undercutting taxi drivers as they
returned to work after protesting."
Over the weekend, the CEOs of
Google, Twitter, Facebook and Apple all issued statements condemning the freeze
and "complaining that the order was pushed through so quickly it left
great uncertainty about the status of some of their best employees," as NPR's Jim
Zarroli reported.
"Apple would not exist without
immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we would do," Apple CEO
Tim Cook wrote in a message to his
employees. "I've heard from many of you who are deeply
concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration
from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy
we support."
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