Uber To Extend Financial Support To Drivers Affected By Trump’s Immigration Ban

U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration ban is affecting Uber drivers, so co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick is reaching out to those affected and is promising them with financial support trough pro bono compensation. In an email to his employees, Kalanick also poured out his thoughts on Trump’s executive order.

Trump’s executive order bans U.S. residents coming from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The order also bans all refugees — a move that protects Americans per the incumbent president. In relation to Uber, drivers who visited the seven countries recently will be banned from entering the U.S., making them unable to work and earn their salary.

In response to the immigration ban, Kalanick said Uber is reaching out to its drivers who are directly affected by the executive order. The ride sharing company is also planning to provide compensation to these drivers for the next three months.

“We are working out a process to identify these drivers and compensate them pro bono during the next three months to help them mitigate some of the financial stress and complications with supporting their families and putting food on the table,” Kalanick wrote in a memo. “We will have more details on this in the coming days.”

Kalanick was among the high-profile business leaders who met with Trump in December for a Strategy and Policy Forum. He attended the meeting with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larru Page, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the time. So now he intends to raise his concerns directly to Trump, as per The Verge.

The Uber CEO pointed out that this immigration ban will not only affect its drivers, but also many innocent people. “We’ve taken the view that in order to serve cities you need to give their citizens a voice, a seat at the table,” Kalanick stated in his email to his employees. “We partner around the world optimistically in the belief that by speaking up and engaging we can make a difference.”

An Uber spokesperson has already confirmed with TechCrunch that the company is in the process of determining the drivers affected by Trump’s ban. However, no specific timeframe for the compensation has been planned out as of late.

“I understand that many people internally and externally may not agree with [Trump’s] decision, and that’s OK. It’s the magic of living in America that people are free to disagree,” he quipped. “Please know that I’ve always believed in principled confrontation and just change; and have never shied away … from fighting for what’s right.”