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Tech: NYC petition opposing Trump’s immigration ban gets thousands of signatures

Protesters rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at Kennedy Airport  on Jan. 28, 2017,  in New York City.
Protesters rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at Kennedy Airport on Jan. 28, 2017, in New York City. Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Safin Hamed

More than 2,000 tech leaders have signed a petition opposing President Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, organizers said Thursday.

The petition, which was released as a public letter by Tech: NYC earlier this week, voiced concern that the executive order Trump signed sends “a dangerous message” and pointed to several major technology companies that were started, at least in part, by immigrants, including Google.

“We should be doing everything in our power to attract these entrepreneurs to the United States,” the letter reads. “Yet when we close the door to immigrants from certain countries, not to mention to refugees, we are telling all immigrants that they are not welcome here.

“We are confident that we can achieve security without threatening the inclusivity and diversity at the heart of New York City — and the United States,” they added.

Initially, the letter was signed by 400 executives and investors, including the CEO of Uber.

By Thursday, that number had grown to 2,035 members of the New York technology community, according to Tech: NYC.

Signatures included the CEO of food delivery service Blue Apron, the CEO’s of eyeglass company Warby Parker, as well as executives from companies like Slack, Google and Etsy.