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[return to "After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract"]
1. rattra+Rh[view] [source] 2020-06-15 16:40:02
>>Xordev+(OP)
What a bummer that workers are publicly demanding this, and (presumably) seeking press attention on it.

I'm no fan of ICE – a very large percentage of my friends in the US are immigrants, and I generally want my country to be a welcoming one. ICE has certainly committed unethical and probably illegal acts (probably true of most federal agencies).

But to expect that a _federal agency_ will be denied service from a private entity, especially for essentially political reasons, is lunacy. It'd attract extreme negative attention from the rest of the government, and great fear from all paying customers that an internet mob could separate them from their code at any time.

We should absolutely be lobbying hard for changes to immigration law, the restrictions placed on ICE, and justice for their wrongdoings.

But I can't see how this helps improve immigration, and it certainly seems likely to cause a lot of negative consequences for GitHub. The employees are putting their employer in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I love the vision of a world where executives don't take actions their workers will protest. I think that in order to get there, the protests need to be reasonable, and I think this one isn't.

EDIT DISCLAIMER: I own a small amount of MSFT stock, which was not on my mind as I wrote this. I use GitHub's free service and have no other relationship I can think of with MSFT or GitHub.

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2. mchans+Bk[view] [source] 2020-06-15 16:50:20
>>rattra+Rh
Civility has already broken down because of the US government’s actions. Schools and other parts of the government are ending their contracts with police. People all over the country and looking hard at their actions and the actions of those companies or other entities they associate with.

When the government is acting this badly the social contract gets weaker and begins to fall apart.

This is just a reaction to those larger forces. Until those larger problems are addressed and the government starts acting more civilized there is no reason to expect or hope that business as usual will continue.

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3. drocer+sr[view] [source] 2020-06-15 17:14:48
>>mchans+Bk
Like they it did in 1968. Which gave us Nixon and Reagan.
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4. jmeist+IF[view] [source] 2020-06-15 18:07:33
>>drocer+sr
Both sides are so convinced of their moral superiority that they just can’t empathize with the other or anticipate their reaction. God save this country
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