Starbucks Is Hiring 10,000 Refugees, Lyft Is Giving $1 Million To The ACLU
/On Saturday, a day after Trump issued an executive order blocking refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., Lyft announced that it was giving $1 million to the ACLU.
"Trump’s immigration ban is antithetical to both Lyft's and our nation's core values," CEO Logan Green tweeted.
The same day, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted that Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and "anyone not allowed in the U.S." The company previously pledged to develop a program that would let Airbnb hosts temporarily take in refugees, along with creating jobs for Syrian refugees in Jordan. (The pledge was made under the former White House Partnership for Refugees, now run by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya's Tent Foundation).
On Sunday, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sent a letter to employees expressing his concern. "We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question," he wrote, and outlined what the company is doing in response.
Starbucks is planning to hire 10,000 refugees around the world in the next five years. The company also reimburses the fee paid by "Dreamers," the undocumented children of immigrants who are allowed to work under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which Trump is considering ending. Schultz also talked about the importance of Mexico to Starbucks, both as a coffee supplier and a growing market.
Other business leaders expressed their anger about the new administration without announcing specific action. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote that Trump's actions are hurting Netflix employees and "are so un-American it pains us all" and that "it is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity." [MORE]
