Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is defending his company’s decision to sell software to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Hundreds of employees protested the move due to the border separation policy, and wrote Benioff a letter asking him to revisit the decision.
Last March, Salesforce announced that three of its products would be used to modernize the CBP recruiting process and “manage border activities” and digital engagement with U.S. citizens.
“There were a lot of things that were being said about us that weren’t true. That’s fine. That’s not really the point,” Benioff told recode. “The point in my mind is we didn’t have a way to have the conversation, and now we do. And I think every company’s going to need to be able to have a structured conversation around humane use.”
More than 650 Salesforce employees signed the letter against the contract.
“Many of us choose to work at Salesforce because of Salesforce’s reputation as a company that stands up against injustice,” the letter reads, according to Bloomberg News. “We want our work at Salesforce to have a positive impact on our friends and neighbors, not to make us complicit in the inhumane treatment of vulnerable people.”
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