Travis Kalanick.

Uber started trending worldwide on social media this weekend, but the company probably isn’t too thrilled about it.

#DeleteUber spread across the internet amid President Donald Trump’s 90-day ban on U.S. immigration by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries that has already seen backlash from the tech industry.

The hashtag picked up steam after Uber’s NYC Twitter account tweeted this while people were protesting the ban at the JFK airport, as two Iraqi men were detained despite having visas that would ordinarily allow them to enter the country.

This sparked some reaction on Twitter, given that a taxi advocacy group joined the protest and some taxi drivers temporarily halted service:

Uber later followed up and said the tweet was “not meant to break strike.”

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has taken criticism lately in regard to Trump. Along with other leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Kalanick is on Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum.

That caused some backlash with employees at Uber, and Kalanick responded by saying “we’ll partner with anyone in the world as long they’re about making transportation in cities better.”

In the letter to employees shared by Uber this weekend, Kalanick said he will talk to Trump about the immigration ban and support employees affected by the decision.

“While every government has their own immigration controls, allowing people from all around the world to come here and make America their home has largely been the U.S.’s policy since its founding,” he wrote. “That means this ban will impact many innocent people—an issue that I will raise this coming Friday when I go to Washington for President Trump’s first business advisory group meeting.”

Update: Uber posted an email Kalanick sent to drivers on Sunday afternoon as a follow-up to the post above. Uber will provide legal support for drivers and compensate them for lost earnings; the company is also creating a $3 million legal defense fund. 

But damage has certainly already been done:

Lyft, meanwhile, said it would donate $1 million to ACLU “to defend our constitution.” From co-founder Logan Green:

Some people said they were ditching Uber and only using Lyft:

Several tech executives — including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai — responded negatively to Trump’s move to ban those from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya from entering the U.S. for 90 days.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly reportedly allows valid visa holders who have landed in the country to remain, impacting an estimated 100 to 200 people detained at U.S. airports.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.