After 9/11, the U.S. enforced stricter control on immigration. This enforcement led to the birth of Homeland Security and ICE, but what is ICE exactly? SAN FRANCISCO – Hundreds of Google employees are calling on the company to pledge it won't work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A group of employees called Googlers for Human Rights posted a public petition urging the company not to bid on a cloud computing contract for CBP, the federal agency that oversees law enforcement for the country's borders. Bids for the contract were due Aug. 1.

A group of Google employees have called for the removal of a rightwing thinktank leader from the company's new artificial intelligence council, citing her anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant record. Employees published a letter on Monday criticizing the appointment of Kay Coles James, the president of the Heritage Foundation, to Google's newly formed advisory council for "the responsible development of AI". James has a history of fighting trans rights and LGBT protections, and has advocated for Donald Trump's proposed border wall. "In selecting James, Google is making clear that its version of'ethics' values proximity to power over the wellbeing of trans people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants," the employees wrote in the letter, which was published online and shared internally at the company. "Such a position directly contravenes Google's stated values."