London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

House Caucus Heads Ask Why Google Hired A Former DHS Staffer Who Worked On Family Separation

House Caucus Heads Ask Why Google Hired A Former DHS Staffer Who Worked On Family Separation

“We find it alarming when companies choose to reward and hire individuals that have played active roles in implementing cruel policies that target and hurt the communities we represent and Google is no exception.”

The three leaders for House caucuses representing racial minority interests signed a letter on Wednesday asking Google why it hired a former Department of Homeland Security staffer who worked on a version of the Muslim travel ban and helped implement the controversial family separation policy.

Addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the letter -signed by Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Joaquin Castro, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu -noted its members were “deeply troubled” by the hiring of Miles Taylor, a former DHS chief of staff who defended policies that Google’s leaders had previously denounced. He joined the company in September as a government affairs and public policy manager.

“As one of the world’s largest tech companies, it is crucial that Google take seriously its role in practicing its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the letter read. “We find it alarming when companies choose to reward and hire individuals that have played active roles in implementing cruel policies that target and hurt the communities we represent and Google is no exception.”

The members' line of questioning echoes that coming from groups of Google employees, whose anger and confusion at Taylor’s September hiring has fueled internal rifts and a breakdown of trust between the company’s leaders and its rank and file. Last month, when employees attempted to ask questions about Taylor’s hiring following a BuzzFeed News report, Google censored some questions about the matter ahead of a companywide meeting known as TGIF. In the weeks since, Google has made it publicly known that it’s punishing alleged leakers and has cut down on the regularity and focus of its TGIF meetings, once a hallmark of the company’s open culture.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the letter or Taylor.

As a counselor to then–acting DHS secretary Elaine Duke in 2017, Taylor called the screening standards at US borders “no longer adequate to combat terrorism” as the agency recommended a “tough” and “tailored” policy to replace expiring parts of a Trump administration travel ban that barred visitors from six Muslim-majority countries. When that ban was first introduced in January 2017, Google cofounder Sergey Brin joined protesters at San Francisco International Airport and made public statements to voice his displeasure with the policy.


“Not only were many Americans appalled by these cruel immigration policies but even Google’s senior leadership and cofounders publicly denounced these policies,” the caucus leaders wrote in the letter, citing Brin’s actions.

Taylor went on to serve as the deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff to Kirstjen Nielsen, whom Trump appointed to the top DHS role in December 2017 and who oversaw the department’s controversial family separation policy at the southern border. In defending the company’s hiring of Taylor, Google executive Karan Bhatia told employees that Taylor was not involved in drafting the original Muslim travel ban and wasn't involved in family separation.

Following Bhatia’s comments, BuzzFeed News published internal DHS emails showing that Taylor had worked to shape talking points and narratives around family separation through the spring of 2018 as he served as Nielsen’s deputy chief of staff. Taylor left DHS around the time of Nielsen’s resignation this April.

“The idea that you could disassociate from a policy that consumed the entire department while you were deputy chief of staff is ridiculous,” one former DHS official told BuzzFeed News last month.

Recently, Google and Pichai have been trying to build bridges with the White House and President Trump, who had previously alleged the company’s products are biased against conservatives. In March, he met with Trump at the Oval Office; last month he hosted an event with Ivanka Trump focused on the creation of information technology jobs.

Castro, Bass, and Chu, whose caucuses represent more than half of all House Democrats, asked for a conversation with Google about Taylor’s hiring.

"This recent company hire appears to contradict Google’s own moral and ethical values and completely disregards the concerns expressed by many of your employees and customers that value immigrants and human rights,” they wrote.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×