Comcast employees stage anti-Trump immigration rallies

Hundreds of Comcast employees in Philadelphia and at other company locations protested President Trump’s immigration ban Thursday. While Comcast didn’t formally endorse the protests, the company tolerated the rallies and paid employees who took time off to attend.

Protestors outside the company’s Comcast Center headquarters in Philadelphia held up signs that read, “Humanity is not up for debate,” “#Include” and “#TechHasNoWalls.”

Comcast rallies were also held in Washington, DC, and Sunnyvale, Ca.

The Philly employees marched from headquarters to City Hall. Estimates put the crowd size there at around 1200 people.

The local BillyPenn site posted video of the rally.

Comcast spokesperson John Demming emailed a statement to USA TODAY: “We understand that some of our employees are concerned and we respect their desire to express their opinion. Our primary focus is to make sure that all of our employees feel safe in their jobs, including while traveling.  We have assured our employees that no one will be asked to travel to a place that would result in them feeling vulnerable in any way.  And, we have enhanced our employee resources programs to help any concerned employee navigate through this matter.”

Microsoft seeks 'exceptions' to Trump immigration ban

President Trump’s executive order last week bars people from entering the U.S. from Syria indefinitely and temporarily restricts entry from six other primarily-Muslim countries: Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Earlier this week, some 2000 Google employees around the world staged similar rallies to protest Trump’s immigration policy.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter