Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has resigned from US President Donald Trump’s economic advisory council, citing the government’s policies on immigration.
In an internal memo to Uber staff, Kalanick said he opposed the immigrant order and spoke about it to the President before stepping down from the council.
Kalanick said: “Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that.”
“Immigration and openness to refugees is an important part of our country’s success and quite honestly to Uber’s.
“There are many ways we will continue to advocate for just change on immigration but staying on the council was going to get in the way of that. The executive order is hurting many people in communities all across America.”
Several tech giants including Google, Facebook and Microsoft have criticised Trump’s controversial immigration ban against people from seven Muslim-majority countrie
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The Uber CEO had earlier said that he would use his position on the council to stand up for what’s right.
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The ride-sharing firm came under fire after revealing that it would turn off its surge pricing fare system during a protest at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City.
The decision led to #DeleteUber campaign, where nearly 200,000 people have reportedly deleted their Uber accounts this week.
Other members of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum include the CEOs of IBM, Tesla, BlackRock, Blackstone Group, General Motors, and Walt Disney Co.
The group was established to provide the new president with guidance from several industries on economic and business issues.
A Blackstone press release issued in December 2016 stated that, the council is ‘designed to provide direct input to the president from many of the best and brightest in the business world in a frank, non-bureaucratic, and non-partisan manner.’
