Tech

Google's Sergey Brin joins anti-travel ban protests at San Francisco airport, says 'I'm a refugee'

The National Foundation for American Policy found that immigrants have started more than half of the U.S.'s billion-dollar start-up companies. One example is Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who emigrated from the former Soviet Union.
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Sergey Brin, Google co-founder and president of Alphabet, joined protesters at San Francisco International Airport Saturday night as demonstrators assembled at airports across the country in opposition to President Trump's immigration order.

When asked for comment by The Verge, Brin said he was attending "in a personal capacity" and would not be giving comment. But Forbes's Ryan Mac did catch Brin elaborating slightly — reportedly saying "I'm here because I'm a refugee."

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Brin's family emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1979 to escape Jewish persecution. Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, is also an immigrant. "We're upset about the impact of this order," Pichai wrote in an company-wide email today. "We've always made our views on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so."

Many technology companies, including Google, commented on Trump's executive order on Saturday. Reactions ranged from mild disapproval to forceful dissent.

The strongest words came from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who called the action "un-American." Protests and condemnation of the executive order intensified throughout the day, with opposition culminating in a temporary suspension of the order by a federal judge.