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Google co-founder Sergey Brin joins San Francisco protest over Trump immigration order

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Following President Trump’s executive order on immigration, several protests have arisen around the country. With the tech industry especially impacted by the halt, Google co-founder Sergey Brin joined protesters Saturday night at San Francisco International Airport.

Spotted by several journalists, Alphabet’s President noted that he was present “in a personal capacity” and had no comment. However, he did elaborate to Forbes that “I’m here because I’m a refugee.”

Brin and his family came to the United States from the Soviet Union and is particular vocal over human rights issues. He played a key role in Google’s decision to exit China back in 2010 after a state-sponsored hack that stole intellectual property and targeted Gmail accounts of activists.

In an interview after pulling services from the country:

You can always make the argument that a little bit is better than nothing. At some point you have to stand back and challenge this and say, this goes beyond the line of what we’re comfortable with and adopt that for moral reasons.

The executive order restricts citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US. On Friday, Google advised affected employees to immediately return stateside. Just under 200 Googlers have been reportedly affected, though a US federal judge has temporarily halted detentions of visa holders this evening.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com