The story so far: On September 15, a small group of protesters assembled near San Francisco’s Moscone Center, the venue for Salesforce’s annual tech event, calling for an end to any and all contracts between the company and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as thousands of attendees passed by them to watch CEO Marc Benioff’s keynote. Though Big Tech firms have long sought out U.S. government contracts, specific links to ICE are now sparking employee discomfort, customer protests, and calls for boycotts.
What is ICE and why is it controversial?
ICE was established as a federal law enforcement agency, with a mission to protect the U.S. from cross-border crime and illegal immigration, after the country witnessed the heinous terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The agency has received billions of dollars in funding during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, and dramatically ramped up its presence. Arrests have spiked, along with the use of violence against citizens.
Untoward law enforcement incidents in Minneapolis are a case in point. In January, writer and mother Renée Good, 37, was killed by a federal immigration officer in the city. Days later, nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was killed by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official while intervening in an ICE operation. Even though there have been reports of multiple detained foreigners dying in ICE custody, the killings of two American citizens triggered bipartisan outrage and protests.
ICE says it “does not detain unaccompanied children — except in rare instances.” But a report by the New York Times in February revealed that the agency was detaining hundreds of children. Another report by Marshall Project, a not-for-profit news organisation, said over 6,200 children were detained by ICE during Mr. Trump’s second term.
Does U.S. Big Tech work with ICE?
Large tech companies often seek high-profile government contracts with federal agencies as they provide regular revenue streams and boost their reputation.
The partnerships range from allowing advertisements for the agency’s recruitment efforts to directly fulfilling ICE’s online and offline needs.
But tech firms are divided in how they support ICE. While defence-focused data analytics firm Palantir is proud of its business relationship with ICE, customer relationship management tech firm Salesforce has adopted a more cautious and centrist approach.
Palantir’s contract with the U.S. government began under the Obama administration in 2011, and has continued through four administrations.
“Palantir is enabling ICE to utilise our platform to better track the immigration lifecycle and serve our national security while promoting efficiency, transparency, and accountability. By improving data integration and data-dependent workflows, our software can help ICE more effectively and reliably perform its core functions,” Palantir said in a blog post.
Salesforce, on the other hand, per CEO Marc Benioff’s Dreamforce keynote, said that all 50 U.S. states and 15 cabinet agencies use the company’s service.
Salesforce’s arrangement with federal agencies has been a cause of concern for its employees since 2018, per several media reports. More recently, in February, over 1,400 Salesforce employees wrote a letter calling on Mr. Benioff to stop promoting Salesforce AI contracts to ICE, and to push back against the rising presence of ICE agents in the U.S.
“We are deeply troubled by recent press reports describing Salesforce pitches of AI technology to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help the agency ‘expeditiously’ hire 10,000 new agents and vet tip-line reports,” stated the employees’ letter, as reported by CNBC.
Mr. Benioff also previously cracked a joke about ICE agents tracking foreign employees during a company event, per a 404 Media report.
Robin Washington, Salesforce’s President and Chief Operating and Financial Officer, stressed that the company valued equality and trust, in response to The Hindu’s questions on anti-ICE protesters.
“I think anytime you attract 50,000 people, to Salesforce, you’re going to have people that come with different perspectives and viewpoints. Our goal here is to put on a very future-forward opportunity for people to understand our vision, which is ‘AI meets the number one AI CRM’ [Customer Relationship Management] and we hope that everyone will participate and learn from that, whether they’re a protestor or a stakeholder, you know — we try to create an environment where it’s safe for everyone to come and bring their voice,” Ms. Washington told The Hindu.
She explained that Salesforce had multiple vehicles through which leadership could engage directly with employees that had different perspectives.
Are tech boycotts effective?
Immigrant advocacy platforms have called for boycotts against tech companies including Amazon and Microsoft for allegedly providing cloud services to ICE. Boycott calls have targeted Apple for removing anti-ICE apps, as well as Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Spotify, and YouTube for allegedly running ICE-related recruitment ads on their platforms. Other tech companies on boycott lists include AT&T, Comcast, Dell, Clearview AI, IBM, and X.
Non-technology companies have also faced flak for feeding and housing ICE agents, apart from helping them operate charter flights and private prisons. However, the sheer number of companies with both direct and indirect ICE links complicates boycott efforts. Even so, the public reporting surrounding ICE spending means that everyday citizens can access the facts they need to hold their local companies accountable.
“Salesforce has a history of showing up for our communities. As a Bay Area tech leader, Salesforce has an opportunity to use its influence to defend democracy, refuse to profit from family separation, [and] to push the tech industry to follow,” stated part of a flyer that protesters handed out to The Hindu on the first day of the Dreamforce event.
This month, the NBC news outlet cited a senior U.S. official to report that ICE agents arrested around 50,000 people in August.
Published – September 23, 2026 01:56 pm IST
