Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and the son of an undocumented US immigrant, says President Donald Trump`s immigration ban is both "deeply un-American" and "potentially unconstitutional." Ohanian expressed his views in an open letter to the Reddit community penned under his long-time handle "kn0thing" and posted to the official Reddit blog.
The tech industry figure describes himself as not only the son of an undocumented German immigrant." Ohanian says welcoming both groups — immigrants and refugees — is America`s "unfair advantage," quoting a startup term for besting the competition. "Without them, there’s no me, and there’s no Reddit. We are Americans," he writes. "Let’s not forget that we’ve thrived as a nation because we’ve been a beacon for the courageous — the tired, the poor, the tempest-tossed."
Ohanian is just the latest tech industry figure to take a more hardened and transparent stand against Trump`s immigration ban, which has led to a chaotic scene at US airports, scores of protests across the country, and a mounting wave of legal battles for the new administration.
Silicon Valley and the greater tech industry`s initial responses ranged from nonexistent to tepid to outspoken. But after severe criticism from the public and numerous high-profile politicians, celebrities, and foreign leaders, the tech industry`s biggest names are now expressing more direct opposition and no longer standing behind the statements of spokespeople.
Earlier today, Twitter-owned Periscope added a pro-immigrant message to its mobile app`s loading screen, and everyone from Tesla`s Elon Musk and Microsoft`s Satya Nadella to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google co-founder Sergey Brin have come out in the open to push back against the immigration ban.
/The Verge/
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