Trump immigration order causes rift with business

NEW YORK: Many American businesses are publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over his anti-immigration policies, saying they could damage competitiveness by limiting access to the best and brightest employees. Criticism of Trump’s order has been most virulent in Silicon Valley, where chiefs of tech firms Apple, Microsoft, Airbnb and Google were among those to blast the policy, unveiled late Friday, which prohibits people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, and includes a temporary ban on refugees.

Protests erupted at airports nationwide over the weekend, while lawsuits led to judges blocking parts of the order, which initially prevented some legal US residents from returning home.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called the policies “un-American.” Executives outside of the technology industry have joined in pointing out the perils of the immigration policies as well, although they are more cautious about provoking the administration, which is expected to pursue favored policies such as tax cuts and regulatory relief.

Any criticism could trigger blowback from Trump, who has frequently lambasted individual companies, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Boeing and Lockheed.

Company chiefs, in messages to employees, have emphasized the importance of a diverse workforce and promised to support employees. “This is not a policy we support,” Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein told employees in a recorded voice mail. “I want to assure all of you that we will work to minimize such disruption to the extent we can within the law and are focused on supporting our colleagues and their families who may be affected.” — AFP