Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has said that his company will provide free housing to refugees who have been impacted by President Trump’s executive order, banning those from several countries from entering the United States.
In doing so, Chesky became one of many tech leaders to publicly condemn Trump’s order, including Google’s Sergey Brin, Uber’s Travis Kalanich, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and more.
The executive order goes against Airbnb’s core mission. The online lodging service says it aimts to bring people together, and its executives have in the past refereed to it as, “the UN at the kitchen table”.
“Not allowing countries or refugees into America is not right, and we must stand with those who are affected,” CEO Brian Chesky tweeted, before announcing the company would provide free housing to those not allowed into the US. “Stay tuned for more, contact me if urgent need for housing” he wrote.
Chesky also sent an email to all Airbnb employees on Saturday night saying, “this is a policy that I profoundly disagree with and it is a direct obstacle to our mission at Airbnb”.
“We believe that you should be able to travel to and live in any community around the world,” he added. “If we want this to be more than just something we put on a plaque, we have to take action. So here is some of the action we are taking.”
As well as offering free housing, Chesky said the company has reached out to employees who may be impacted, and those who work in the US on visas. He urged other employees who thought the order might impact them in some way to contact the Airbnb ’employee experience’ team.
None of Airbnb’s co-founders – Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk – have spoken publicly against Trump, but all three were part of a group from several technology companies who endorsed Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign.