Uber, Lyft caught up in immigration protest controversy

President Donald Trump’s immigration order wasn’t the only subject of protests over the weekend.Uber, the ride-hailing giant based in San Francisco, continued to give rides and cut surge pricing while the New York Taxi Workers Alliance held a strike over the order, which left refugees returning to the U.S. detained in airports across the country. The decision drew the anger of many of its users, who took to Twitter and other social media sites threatening to delete the app.In response, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement that the company would set up a $3 million fund to support immigrant drivers in need of legal services, compensate detained drivers for lost earnings and lobby the Trump administration to overturn the order.Protests began Friday night, after Trump signed an executive order to close U.S. borders to refugees. The order went into effect immediately, and airport authorities stopped or detained refugees on their way back to the U.S.Demonstrators flooded John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, sparking similar movements in other cities, calling for the release of the refugees and a reversal of the order.On Saturday, the Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents 19,000 drivers, called for a halt to rides to JFK. In a statement, the group said its membership, which includes Uber drivers, is “largely Muslim” and the refugee order increases the risk of hate crimes against its drivers.In a tweet sent during the strike, Uber said it would suspend surge pricing for users ordering rides to the airport. The statement sparked outrage among customers, and celebrities including George Takei and Lena Dunham denounced the move as a strategy to profit off of the strike, spreading the social media hashtag #DeleteUber.Uber competitor Lyft -- affiliated with General Motors though a $500 million investment last year -- also continued rides to JFK during the strike. However, it said in a statement on Sunday that it would donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU sued Trump over the order, prompting a federal judge to block parts of the order.As of Monday morning, Lyft was the sixth-most downloaded app on the Apple App Store, while Uber was 13th.Uber has been working to show its support for drivers affected by the order, providing legal support and financial aid. Kalanick also said he would use his position on Trump’s economic advisory group, which includes Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk and GM CEO Mary Barra, to raise the issues caused by the order to the president at a meeting on Friday.

Uber, Lyft caught up in immigration protest controversy

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