Salesforce employees urge CEO Benioff to end ICE contracts

More than 1,400 Salesforce staff members have endorsed a letter urging CEO Marc Benioff to cease potential dealings with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, as shared with CNBC by two individuals familiar with the situation.

"Recent media stories about Salesforce offering AI technology to US ICE for quick recruitment of 10,000 new agents and report analysis have deeply concerned us," the letter states.

This letter urges Benioff to retract all ongoing presentations or business prospects related to ICE enforcement and hiring and to publicly call for the withdrawal of undercover agents from US cities.

This letter from Salesforce staff is one of the latest instances where tech employees have voiced worries about the agency’s use of their services, following the January deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota.

Earlier on the same day, Benioff jokingly mentioned ICE at a company event in Las Vegas, according to a report from 404 Media. 

Following his remarks, employees criticised him in a company Slack channel, the two sources told CNBC.

Those who signed the letter are demanding clarity on the services Salesforce provides to ICE and asking for a suspension or prohibition of infrastructure, AI systems, or services that increase ICE's operational capabilities.

"We worry that Salesforce's offerings might be enabling ICE to broaden its recruitment, onboarding, and functional abilities," states a supplemental document to the letter, as seen by CNBC. 

The document references an October report by the New York Times mentioning Salesforce describing its software as an ideal tool for ICE agent recruitment in response to an information request.

This letter arrives at a challenging moment for the company. Investors have shown apprehensions about AI models potentially impacting the growth prospects of software enterprises, including Salesforce. 

The stock has decreased approximately 27% in 2026 so far. In December, the company highlighted its collaboration with the U.S. government and anticipated a growth between 9% and 10% for the ongoing fiscal year, a slight increase.