Throughout the last 24 hours, chaos has filled the streets of New York City because of the recent executive order that Trump has signed banning immigration from 7 countries which are primarily Muslim. In response to this, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance announced via Twitter a temporary work halt in order to stand in solidarity with everyone protesting the ban.
NO PICKUPS @ JFK Airport 6 PM to 7 PM today. Drivers stand in solidarity with thousands protesting inhumane & unconstitutional #MuslimBan.
— NY Taxi Workers (@NYTWA) January 28, 2017
In a not so coincidental move, Uber, the popular ride-sharing app, tweeted that they would continue to operate normally and would not be surge pricing for people at JFK.
Surge pricing has been turned off at #JFK Airport. This may result in longer wait times. Please be patient.
— Uber NYC (@Uber_NYC) January 29, 2017
Because of the nature of the tweet and timing of it, people of the Internet were not pleased, to say the least. In fact, #DeleteUber began trending almost immediately.
Reminder: @Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is a member of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum. #GrabYourWallet #DeleteUber https://t.co/ggkZTF2YHG
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) January 29, 2017
Had been a fan of @Uber even drove for them, very disappointed. We need those with a voice to stand up! #deleteuber pic.twitter.com/6bN0FnyPcq
— Gerald Morris (@g_phunky) January 29, 2017
If @travisk won’t publicly denounce Trump and his practices, I’ll publicly denounce his unethical businesses. #deleteuber #dumptrump pic.twitter.com/huQNmifJZy
— rionnoir (@rionnoir) January 29, 2017
Bye @Uber #deleteuber #useLyft #GrabYourWallet pic.twitter.com/v9EJ81RjAe
— Abbe Wright (@AbbeWright) January 29, 2017
Been a devote daily user of @Uber and @UberEATS for over a year. But it’s time to say goodbye. #TrumpBan #deleteuber
— Nicolina Savelli (@nicolinasavelli) January 29, 2017
In the midst of all the drama, Lyft, another popular app for ride sharing, announced via email on Sunday morning that they would be donating a million dollars to ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, over the course of the next four years.
Thank you @lyft for pledging to donate $1 million over the next four years to @ACLU. Sign up for a better company and service. #deleteuber pic.twitter.com/tP4ZiV6Xd4
— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) January 29, 2017
In the email that went out to all customers, the co-founders of the company wrote that “banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft’s and our nation’s core values,” and that they will not tolerate it. “We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community,” and that we must continue to stand together as a community, they said.
And that is exactly what we will do.