Salesforce Employees Urge Benioff to Cut Ties with ICE Amid Controversy

Salesforce is facing pressure from its employees to cut ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid growing controversy over the agency's actions.

More than 1,400 Salesforce employees have signed a letter addressed to CEO Marc Benioff, urging him to 'pause or prohibit infrastructure, AI systems or services that enable ICE operational scale-up.'

The letter cites recent killings of civilians by ICE agents in Minneapolis as catalysts for their demands. It also expresses concern over the agency's use of Salesforce-pitched AI technology to vet tip-line reports and hire new agents.

This is not an isolated issue, with several prominent executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI boss Sam Altman, expressing concerns over the increasing violence related to Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Over 60 CEOs have signed a statement calling for de-escalation, while 450 employees from major corporations like Alphabet, Meta, and Salesforce circulated a letter urging their top executives to pressure the White House.

The issue comes at a challenging time for Salesforce, which has seen its shares slide sharply in recent weeks amid a broad sell-off in technology stocks. Analysts expect revenue to rise by nearly 12% to $11.2 billion and adjusted profit to rise by nearly 10% to $3.05 per share when the company reports its fourth-quarter results on February 25.