Seattle Amazon workers rally to cut company ties with ICE

Amazon workers, activists protest in Seattle over AWS links to ICE

Amazon workers and local groups rallied at the Amazon Spheres in Seattle, urging the company to cut ties with ICE and CBP and end partnerships they say support immigration enforcement.

SEATTLE - Amazon workers and local advocacy groups rallied outside the company’s Spheres on Thursday, calling on Amazon to cut ties with federal immigration agencies and private tech firms.

Protesters called on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to end contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection.

They also demanded the company cut partnerships with Palantir, an AI company with facial recognition that has been linked to immigration enforcement, and Flock, which has access to Amazon’s Ring data.

Ring came under fire after a Super Bowl ad touting a "search party" feature using AI to help locate lost pets, which created concern about what type of data could also be shared with federal agencies for things beyond pets.

What they're saying:

During the rally, organizers celebrated news that Ring is canceling its partnership with Flock.

"It is hard right now, it is scary right now, it's getting scarier every day, but guess what? More and more people are waking up every day, it's getting easier to build momentum like this, to bring people together," said Maren Costa, a tech worker organizer.

Amazon is no stranger to these types of calls for change. Critics have raised concerns about how cloud services and AI tools could be used by government agencies, including the military.

Former Amazon employee Ahmed Shahour, who said he was fired after speaking out about Project Nimbus, also addressed the crowd.

"I was fired three months ago for daring to speak up against executives and educate my colleagues about Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion project between Amazon and the Israeli military, used to commit a genocide that has wiped out nearly half the population of Gaza," Shahour said.

What's next:

Organizers said they plan to continue pushing the company for changes. Amazon and AWS did not immediately respond to FOX 13's requests for comment.

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