More than 1,000 Google employees have signed a petition asking the company to stop working with US immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The petition says Google’s technology is being used in harmful ways, such as surveillance and violence tied to immigration operations. It mentions the deaths of Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti, and claims that Google Cloud supports CBP surveillance systems and Palantir’s ImmigrationOS, which ICE uses to track immigrants.
The workers also say Google’s generative AI tools have been used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP to improve productivity and operations.
They criticise Google-owned platforms too: the Play Store has blocked apps that track ICE activity, and YouTube has carried ads promoting ICE recruitment and self-deportation. Google has not yet responded publicly. In their letter, employees wrote that they are “deeply disturbed” by how the technology is being used.
The petition, reportedly titled “Googlers Demand: Worker Safety & ICE Contract Transparency,” calls for more employees to join before it is sent to leadership. The signatories argue that Google should disclose all contracts with DHS, ICE, and CBP, and withdraw from partnerships that enable state violence.
They also want leadership to recognise risks faced by workers and to support community-based responses during unrest, such as school closures and mutual aid.
Among their demands are a US-based town hall or live Q&A with executives overseeing government contracts, recorded and conducted without AI summaries. They also want stronger safety protections for all employees, including contractors, such as flexible remote work and access to legal and immigration help. Lastly, they ask for clear limits on how Google’s AI and cloud products can be used by government agencies, along with full transparency about possible misuse.
