Trump’s travel ban ‘morally wrong’, Collison brothers say

Stripe founders pledge cash to ACLU to help fight US president’s immigration measures

Stripe, the company co-founded by Irish billionaires Patrick and John Collision, has condemned US president Donald Trump’s immigration policies as “morally wrong” and “economically damaging”.

The founders of the online payments firm, valued at more than €8 billion, are involved in fundraising drive to fight Mr Trump’s policies, which include a ban on migrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A number of its staff have publicly criticised the president’s actions due to the importance of immigration for the tech industry.

The Limerick born brothers have helped to raise more than $220,000 between themselves and tech industry leaders in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

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Patrick Collison (28) pledged $50,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has received a surge in donations to help fight the travel ban.

He said his brother John (26) had motivated him to raise funds for the organisation following an earlier “undisclosed” donation to the group in December.

“In our view the latest executive actions are morally wrong, economically damaging, and harmful to America’s global stature,” a spokesman for Stripe said. “Immigrants are a vital part of the American economy, way of life, and place in the world...At Stripe, we are concerned about the second-order effects of these policies, and we would like to make our opposition to them very clear.”

ACLU, a non-governmental organisation, said people had donated $24.2 million to the organisation over the weekend - six times what it normally raises in a full year.

It is asking the public to help it “protect the rights of refugees and immigrants - and everyone across America.”

Nat Friedman, chief executive of San Francisco based software firm Xamarin, and Mike Vernal, a partner with Sequoia, both pledged to match $50,000 in donations from the public.

Stripe, which was founded in 2009, offers payment processing services for online and mobile transactions. It employs more than 500 people globally, now operates in 25 countries, with its European headquarters in Dublin.