DC tech leaders weigh in on Trump’s refugee ban

“When we think of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, we think of our colleagues, our startups and our partners who work hard every day to solve tough problems to make people’s lives better.”

So writes 1776 CEO Evan Burfield in his Medium post response to Donald Trump’s executive order banning all immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days.

In the days since Trump signed the order, responses from the business community, both local and global, have continued to roll in. The Verge classified responses from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders, and DC Inno rounded up these thoughts from various members of #dctech.

Additionally, some of the local tech scene’s best-known names, like Burfield, Donna Harris and Steve Case, took to Medium to express their thoughts in full.

Genius Exists Everywhere: entrepreneurs in every corner of the world suit up to make the world a better place https://t.co/Hw5RClyX87

— DonnaHarris.eth (@dharrisindc) January 31, 2017

In his statement, Case makes it very clear that he thinks the executive order is not in line with American values. “The ban of refugees and documented immigrants based on religion or country of origin is antithetical to our principles, and raises serious constitutional questions,” he writes. “I agree we need to keep our country secure and Americans safe, but we must do so in a way that is true to our ideals.”

That said, Case thinks the way to create better, more “American” policies is to interact with more (and more kinds of) Americans. “I support Travis Kalanick and Elon Musk in their work on President Trump’s advisory group, and disagree with those who would ostracize them or their companies for their willingness to engage with the President,” he writes.

Befitting the global brand that 1776 has become, both Harris and Burfield’s posts focus more on the entrepreneurs that live in these seven affected countries (and so many others).

“If I’ve learned one thing from my work as Co-CEO of 1776 and from being on the Board of Directors of Global Entrepreneurship Network, it’s that smart people live everywhere and we are more alike than we are different,” Harris writes.

“We are as excited to help a founder in American city Boise, Idaho transform agriculture as we are to help a founder from Aleppo, Syria to improve education for children,” Burfield writes. “At 1776, we are a global community, and we stand together.”