Founders, investors, and universities across Illinois and Chicago's tech ecosystem took to social media to sharply criticize President Trump's executive order on immigration, which went into place over the weekend.
The executive order indefinitely banned refugees from Syria from entering the United States, banned refugees from entering the US for 120 days, and banned citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen--from entering the US for 90 days.
This sparked outrage, and created confusion over the immigration status of legal US residents from these countries. If the ban continues, it could also impact tech companies who employ many foreign-born workers, as well as change the face of innovation in the US: In Illinois, 40 percent of venture-backed businesses are founded by immigrants, and 51 percent of US "unicorns," startups valued at over $1 billion, have a foreign-born founder.
There were protests at airports around the United States over the weekend, including at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker joined the protesters, tweeting that his great grandfather came to the US as a refugee.
My grt grandfather Nicholas came to IL a refugee escaping pogroms. If US had not allowed entry, he + our family's future would have died...
— J.B. Pritzker (@JBPritzker) January 29, 2017
...Nicholas became an attorney fighting for legal rights. So last night at O'Hare protest I stood up for him, and I won't give up. #NoBan
— J.B. Pritzker (@JBPritzker) January 29, 2017
Harper Reed, founder of Modest and former CTO of Obama for America, and Max Temkin, founder of Cards Against Humanity, joined the protest as well.
LIVE at O'Hare https://t.co/SGwRv9ubDE
— Max Temkin (@MaxTemkin) January 29, 2017
Last night demonstrated that we have had enough. We have a hard next couple years. We need… https://t.co/PhZ64KzERt pic.twitter.com/mwNiNpfM39 — harper (@harper) January 29, 2017
Shradha Agarwal, cofounder of Outcome Health (formerly ContextMedia), tweeted her frustrations.
Heart aches for those detained despite legal status. Immigration is misunderstood. I'm here legally for 12yrs /still not citizen/ employ 620 — Shradha Agarwal (@shr4dha) January 29, 2017Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp, tweeted that he would donate $200,000 to refugee organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) after over 100 people tweeted him receipts of their donation.
Looks like we’re going to get to 100 very easily! Big hearts out there! Thank you. Will send $200k to https://t.co/5CgK3zTrQV @theIRC.
— Jason Fried (@jasonfried) January 29, 2017
Terry Howerton, founder of TechNexus, weighed in as well.
Christians don't refuse refugees. Brave, moral Americans don't embrace bigotry, ignorance. Leaders don't idly await a constitutional crisis.
— Terry Howerton (@terryhowerton) January 29, 2017
George Bousis, founder of Raise, added he's "concerned and incredibly hurt" to hear about the refugee ban, he said in a comment sent to Chicago Inno.
"As the son of Greek Immigrant parents who came to America for this same dream, I've witnessed them build a business that's created thousands of jobs for people in our local communities," he wrote. "As the next generation and as a proud business owner today, I firmly stand alongside the immigrants and refugees that come to America to seek a better life. Following in my parents' footsteps, Raise has created hundreds of jobs to date - the diversity, inclusion and cultural identity of each of our employees is at the very core of our success as a company. I continue to have faith in the system created by our Founding Fathers over 200 years ago and stand behind each and every individual affected by these actions."
Beyond Chicago, Google is raising a fund of up to $4 million for donations for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee, and UNHCR. Lyft committed to donating $1 million to the ACLU over four years. Uber pledged a $3 million legal defense fund for affected drivers. Airbnb offered free housing to refugees and travelers barred from entering the US. A number of other tech executives released statements or tweeted criticism of the order.
Several Chicago-area universities published open letters to President Trump expressing their frustrations with the executive order, including the University of Illinois system (whose flagship university, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has one of the largest populations of international students nationwide).
"Because of the entry restrictions cited in the new Executive Order, we strongly recommend that students and scholars who might be affected defer travel outside the U.S. until there is fuller assessment of the Executive Order and its implementation, including resolution of several newly mounted legal challenges," administrators from the U of I system wrote in a joint letter.
The Urbana-Champaign campus has more than 150 students, faculty, or visiting scholars impacted by the travel ban, UIUC officials told Chicago Inno over email.
Knowledge knows no borders
Illinois Institute of Technology's provost Frances Bonet also warned students and faculty from these countries that they may not be able to travel or come back to the US if they are outside the country, but took the opportunity to "appreciate and honor" the contributions of Illinois Tech's international community.
"Our university is invested in critical thinking and invents solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, and we proudly educate the next generation of great innovators," she wrote in a letter published online. "None of that would be possible without the incalculable contributions of our international students, faculty, and staff.
Northwestern administrators said the travel ban raises "serious concerns" for their students and faculty.
"Knowledge knows no borders, and we all benefit greatly from the presence of the talented international students, faculty and staff who are members of the Northwestern community," wrote Northwestern president Morton Schapiro in a letter published online. "I sincerely hope that the Administration quickly makes clear that this country still welcomes scholars and students from around the world, just as Northwestern University does, and will continue to do so."
While Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, and Daniel Diermeier, provost of UChicago, noted the importance of national security, they said it can't be at the expense of intellectual advancement.
"The history of scientific and technological advance that undergirds all of the economic growth the country has witnessed for decades, as well as the position of the country as the greatest magnet for talented people from around the world, has depended upon this welcoming stance," they wrote in a letter published online. "A failure to maintain this position will ultimately weaken the nation’s world-leading higher education institutions, diminish the innovation energy in the country, slow the pace of technology development, and ultimately weaken the nation."
Note: Updated with additional responses.
