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Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has defended his company's work with the US Customs and Border Protection agency.
- The San Francisco software company Salesforce is known for its progressive
politics . But its contract with the US Customs and Border Protection agency has put that reputation at risk. - In protest of its contact, a local San Francisco coffee company turned town a $40,000 contract to serve coffee at Salesforce's giant annual user conference, Dreamforce.
- Nick Cho, co-founder of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, said it was the first time he turned down a contract for ethical reasons.
Trouble continues to brew for Salesforce over the company's contract with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which came under scrutiny last month as Americans grappled with a Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
The latest act of protest comes from the San Francisco coffee company Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, which turned down a $40,000 contract with Salesforce in protest of its work with the agency, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"This is the first time we've turned down a contract for ethical reasons, or to make a statement," Wrecking Ball owner Nick Cho told Business Insider in an email. "With the actions this administration is taking at the border, this was the first time that we were faced with a decision quite like this."
Cho and his co-owner Trish Rothgeb told the Chronicle that they were initially eager to serve coffee to the 170,000-plus attendees expected at Salesforce's annual user event Dreamforce, which will take place the last week of September.
But Cho, who immigrated to the US as a toddler, and Rothgeb, whose father is an immigrant, said they decided not to work with Salesforce following news that the non-profit Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Service (RAICES) rejected a $250,000 donation from the company in protest of its work with the government agency.
Salesforce, which sells customer relationship management software to companies and government entities, has declined to cancel its CBP contract. The company announced its contract publicly in March, though it garnered public awareness until June, when 650 Salesforce employees sent a letter to CEO Marc Benioff criticizing the company's work with CBP.
When asked for comment on this story, Salesforce said that the company's position has not changed since Benioff last tweeted about it on July 9.
"Salesforce always will be true to our core values. We don't work with CBP regarding separation of families. CBP is a customer & follows our TOS. We dont have an agreement with ICE," Benioff said in the tweet. "I'm Proud of the Men & Women who protect & serve our country every day & I'm Proud of our Ohana."