Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE
Employees at Salesforce circulate an internal letter to chief executive Marc Benioff urges him to indicate recent actions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcementban the use of Salesforce software by immigration agents, and roll back federal legislation that would significantly reform the agency.
The letter specifically cites the “recent murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis” as catalysts, calling them the “devastating indictment of a system that has denied human decency.” It is unclear how many signatories the letter has received so far.
The letter, which has not been previously reported, is being organized amid Salesforce's annual Salesforce kickoff event this week in Las Vegas. During an appearance at the event earlier today, Benioff asked international employees to stand to thank them for attending. He then joked that ICE agents were in the building monitoring them, according to current and former Salesforce employees who spoke to WIRED.
Benioff's comments sparked immediate backlash among employees. “A lot of people are angry,” says one source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. Another source tells WIRED that the internal pushback was significantly stronger today than after Benioff made other controversial comments last fall supporting President Trump's call to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco to tackle crime.
Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. Business Insider and 404 Media previously reported on Benioff's comments and the reaction to them within Salesforce.
“We are deeply concerned about leaked documentation that reveals Salesforce pitched AI technology to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help the agency 'rapidly' hire 10,000 new agents and vet tip-line reports,” the letter says. “Providing 'Agentforce' infrastructure to scale a mass deportation agenda that currently detains 66,000 people — 73 percent of whom have no criminal record — represents a fundamental betrayal of our commitment to the ethical use of technology.”
The letter claims that Benioff's voice “carries unique weight in Washington,” pointing to an episode last fall when Trump called off an ICE deployment in San Francisco after what appeared to be a backlash from Bay Area tech leaders, including Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. It's urging Benioff to use that influence as a “corporate statesman” to issue a public statement calling out ICE's unconstitutional behavior and commit Salesforce to erasing “red lines,” excluding the use of its cloud and AI products for state violence.
Benioff has weighed in on both national and local political issues for years. He supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later became one of the most high-profile of Proposal Ca failed San Francisco ballot measure that would have raised taxes to fund programs to address homelessness. In 2020, he donated to the primary campaigns of some Democratic presidential candidates, including Kamala Harris.
But since Trump returned to the White House in January, Benioff has signaled greater support for some Republican leaders. In one interview, he said he strives to remain nonpartisan because he also owns Time magazine. But he also joked that, while refusing to contribute directly to Trump's inauguration fund, he had “donated” a picture of the president on the cover of the magazine, which named him its 2024 Person of the Year. “He can use the cover of Time magazine for free,” Benioff said in the Fortune interview.
Benioff also faced backlash from Salesforce employees last fall when he suggested the National Guard must be sent to San Francisco to tackle crime ahead of the company's annual conference in the city. He later apologized for the comments, explaining that they stemmed from genuine safety concerns. He later reversed his stance, joining Nvidia's Huang in asking Trump to send troops.
