ICEout @ Microsoft
Dear Satya Nadella, Brad Smith, and the Microsoft Senior Leadership Team,
As
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified its campaign of terror, the violence against immigrants as well as U.S. citizens has escalated. Since the beginning of 2026, ICE agents have shot
14 people, two of which have died. At least
6 people have died in ICE custody where,
according to the ACLU, detainees are denied medical care and legal counsel and are subjected to overcrowding, food shortages, unsanitary conditions, and physical and sexual abuse. In other instances, ICE has ignored court orders and bypassed laws and procedures altogether to deport people to countries in which they have
no ties, support, or legal protections.
Microsoft has a history of providing technological products and services to ICE despite the irreparable harm they cause, and recent evidence shows an expanding partnership.
Since then,
recently leaked documents reveal that ICE’s reliance on Microsoft’s cloud technology has increased. According to the report, ICE has tripled the amount of data stored by Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform (from 400 terabytes in July 2025 to 1,400 terabytes in January 2026). ICE also uses Azure AI tools to analyze images and videos and to translate text.
This ongoing and expanding business relationship between Microsoft and ICE is in direct violation of Microsoft’s
Responsible AI commitments, its
corporate social responsibility to protect human rights globally, and the
United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The Microsoft-ICE business relationship affects employee focus, productivity, and morality, as highlighted by this Microsoft employee statement:
“When I hear stories or see videos of my neighbors and community members being terrorized and kidnapped by ICE, I feel immense frustration and guilt for my work at a company that maintains and hides such close ties with ICE and DHS. I feel fatigued and distracted at work, wanting to find ways to get answers and make change, but knowing that questions about key moral issues at work are met with silence, or, at best, dismissive and misleading remarks from leadership.”
ICE activity directly threatens Microsoft’s diverse employee community, and our community is facing those threats without support.
We write this letter to call in our leadership and offer them the opportunity to take accountability and repair the relationship with their employees. In times of crisis, our values are put to the test. History will remember — do not cement Microsoft as an accomplice against humanity.
As Microsoft employees, we demand the following from Senior Leadership:
1. Protect Everyone Who Works at Microsoft
Do not allow ICE to have access anywhere on campus without a judicial warrant.
Permit all workers on campus to stay home from work or work from home, if their role allows, without penalty if they do not feel safe to travel to work.
Create a need-based fund for anyone who works on campus who requires legal counsel due to changes in immigration rules or because they were detained through the increase in ICE activity.
2. Disclose and Cut All Ties with ICE
Disclose existing and past contracts with ICE, CBP, and DHS. Commit to transparency and review regarding contracts between Microsoft and government agencies, in the US and beyond.
Cancel all existing contracts and services provided to ICE and CBP immediately.
Draft, publicize, and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Microsoft nor its contractors will work with clients who violate international human rights law.
3. Call for an End to ICE Terror
Use Microsoft’s leverage and relationship with the White House to demand a cease to all harmful activity being carried out by ICE, CBP, and DHS.
Be an ethical leader in the tech space by taking a public stance against this harm until the terror ends.
These demands build upon those from Microsoft workers’ open letter from 2018, as those common sense concerns have been ignored, and the necessity to act has only increased since.
Microsoft workers*, including full-time employees, vendors, interns, and contract workers can sign this letter. Not a Microsoft worker?
Sign the public tech industry pledge. *Workers at Microsoft subsidiaries like LinkedIn, GitHub, etc. are included in this group and welcome to sign this letter.
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