In a bold collective action, more than 450 employees from America's most influential technology corporations have issued a defiant open letter to their chief executives. The workers, representing giants such as Apple, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce, are demanding immediate intervention to address escalating federal agent presence in urban areas.
Campaign Organized Under ICEout.Tech Banner
The campaign has been organized under the banner ICEout.Tech, gaining momentum following a series of troubling incidents involving federal agents. The movement crystallized after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital, on January 24, 2026. This tragic event served as a catalyst for tech professionals to voice their concerns about what they describe as excessive and violent enforcement actions.
Historical Precedent in San Francisco
The open letter strategically references the example of San Francisco, where technology leaders previously demonstrated their influence. In October, when the Trump administration threatened to deploy additional federal agents to the city, tech executives made direct appeals to the White House. According to the letter, this intervention proved successful, with the administration ultimately backing down from its planned surge.
Tech workers are now urging their CEOs to replicate this approach on a broader scale. They argue that if industry leaders could persuade the administration to reconsider its plans for San Francisco, similar pressure could be applied to remove Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from cities nationwide.
Escalating Violence in Multiple Cities
The letter paints a disturbing picture of federal agent activities across several American cities. Workers describe scenes in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis as representing "terror and cruelty with no end in sight." Minneapolis has been particularly affected, witnessing two fatal shootings within a single month.
On January 7, ICE agents killed Renee Good, a United States citizen, followed by the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on January 24. These incidents have fueled growing outrage among tech professionals who believe federal enforcement has crossed ethical boundaries.
Three Specific Demands to Corporate Leadership
The open letter outlines three concrete demands for technology company CEOs:
- Immediately contact the White House and demand that ICE agents be withdrawn from American cities
- Cancel all existing corporate contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Publicly condemn the violence perpetrated by federal agents in urban communities
Beyond these specific requests, the workers emphasize their desire to take pride in both their profession and their employers. They believe the technology industry possesses unique leverage that can and should be used to address what they characterize as systemic violence and intimidation.
ICEout.Tech's Powerful Statement
The ICEout.tech organization released a comprehensive statement on January 24, 2026, condemning what they describe as a "violent surge of federal agents across our cities." The statement argues that recent actions by ICE and Customs and Border Protection have "removed any credibility that these actions are about immigration enforcement," instead suggesting their true purpose is "terror, cruelty, and suppression of dissent."
The organization's pledge declares: "We are tech industry professionals in the United States. We all witnessed ICE brutally kill a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis. Then, the Trump administration brazenly lied about what happened."
Broader Context of Federal Presence
The letter contextualizes current events within a larger pattern of federal intervention, noting that "for months now, Trump has sent federal agents to our cities to criminalize us, our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and family members." Workers describe witnessing "armed and masked thugs bring reckless violence, kidnapping, terror and cruelty with no end in sight" across multiple metropolitan areas.
This collective action represents one of the most significant employee-led movements within the technology sector, blending workplace advocacy with broader social justice concerns. As tech professionals increasingly recognize their industry's political influence, they're demanding that corporate leadership use that power to address what they perceive as governmental overreach and violence in American communities.
