Employees at Salesforce are circulating an internal letter to chief executive Marc Benioff calling on him to denounce recent actions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prohibit the use of Salesforce software by immigration agents, and back federal legislation that would significantly reform the agency.
The letter specifically cites the “recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis” as catalysts, calling them the “devastating indictment of a system that has discarded human decency.” It’s unclear how many signatories the letter has received so far.
The letter, which has not been reported on previously, is being organized amid Salesforce’s annual leadership kickoff event this week in Las Vegas. During an appearance at the event earlier today, Benioff asked international employees to stand to thank them for attending, before joking that ICE agents were in the building monitoring them, according to current and former Salesforce employees who spoke to WIRED.
Benioff’s remarks sparked immediate backlash among employees. “Lots of people are furious,” says one source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. Business Insider and 404 Media previously reported on Benioff’s remarks and the reaction they received inside Salesforce.
“We are deeply troubled by leaked documentation revealing that Salesforce has pitched AI technology to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help the agency ‘expeditiously’ hire 10,000 new agents and vet tip-line reports,” the letter reads. “Providing ‘Agentforce’ infrastructure to scale a mass deportation agenda that currently detains 66,000 people—73 percent of whom have no criminal record—represents a fundamental betrayal of our commitment to the ethical use of technology.”
The letter argues that Benioff’s voice “carries unique weight in Washington,” pointing to an episode last fall when Trump called off an ICE deployment in San Francisco after what appeared to be outreach from Bay Area tech leaders, including Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. It urges Benioff to use that influence as a “corporate statesman” to issue a public statement condemning what it calls ICE’s unconstitutional conduct and to commit Salesforce to clear “red lines” barring the use of its cloud and AI products for state violence.
Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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