Thread by @mizlizdunn

I’m heading back to San Antonio from #bbcon19, a tech fundraising conference, where I confronted @awscloud employees about the company’s active support of ICE and their technology built to terrorize families. Here’s how that exchange went👇

Unsurprisingly, they didn’t know what I was talking about. So I explained that the DHS contracts with @PalantirTech (to the tune of $51M) for software that helps track down immigrants, and @awscloud hosts those databases, allowing ICE to target communities and rip families apart.

One man suggested I check out @Amazon’s new platform released this week (bit.ly/2IKZ1kG) “It will resonate with you,” he said. “Great!” I replied. “Let’s look it up now and read it together.” That’s when things really got interesting. Here’s a summary of our discussion:

Climate change—@amazon’s ambitious Climate Pledge is laudable, but there's no mention of those migrating due to the existential threat climate change poses. These two issues are inextricably linked—as natural disasters become more frequent, so does climate change migration.

Immigration—I was shocked to see a policy position on the @amazon platform. What wasn't shocking was learning they support using baseless assumptions to select the best and brightest immigrants. We cannot thrive as a society if a human right, the right to migrate, is a hierarchy.

Immigration—@amazon claims they want a path to citizenship for #Dreamers. That sounds great. HOWEVER, those Dreamers may have a parent at home who doesn’t have papers and could likely be targeted by ICE, which may very well be using @amazon's technology to do so.

So back to the @awscloud employees... they listened, tight-lipped, and then said: “It’s a start.” NOT👏EVEN👏CLOSE 👏 Too many Americans are complicit in the fight for the rights of immigrants and refugees. I’m thankful for groups like @WeWontBuildIt in the fight ✊#NoTechForICE

Thank you to millions of people who support @raicestexas as donors and who follow us on Twitter. Y’all are the heroes and fighting the good fight, and we have SO MANY MORE hearts and minds to change. The one-year countdown to the 2020 election is upon us. The time is NOW!

If you want to learn how to become an activist, regardless of your profession, start by educating yourself on the issues at hand. Here are two great articles about how Amazon and its subsidiaries work with ICE and our government. bit.ly/2z19vGQ & bit.ly/2BqgmLC

Human discourse can be messy, especially when discussing a topic as polarizing as immigration. But we need to be having these hard conversations!