President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that banned citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. One of the first tech companies that reacted to the ban was Google saying that a lot of their employees will be impacted by the executive order.
After Trump signed his executive order, Google recalls its employees with CEO Sundar Pichai expressing his disappointment. According to Bloomberg, Pichai said that 100 of its employees will be affected by the order. There were already reports that some people who hold U.S visas and green carda have been prevented from boarding flights going to the United States.
A lot of the Google employees who are reportedly affected live and work in the United States but are just abroad on vacation or in work assignments. One employee who was vacationing in New Zealand had to rush back to the U.S. before the order was signed.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's chief legal officer Brad Smith sent a note saying he knows 76 employees of Microsoft are affected by the executive order but he added that the number could be more.
Other giant tech companies like Apple, Facebook, and Netflix also issued their disappointment as well as their support to their employees who are affected by the ban.
As for the countries which are affected by Trump's executive order, Iran was the first to react saying that it will ban U.S. citizens from entering the country according to a Newsweek tweet on January 29.
In the midst of all those criticisms regarding the countries which were included in the ban, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway spoke with Fox News and defended President Trump. She said that these countries were banned because they have had a history of harboring, training, and exporting terrorists. She added that it's time to stop pretending and looking away from the truth.
