Starbucks, Google react to Trump

President Trump’s executive order on refugees has prompted strong action from Google and Starbucks, criticism from Goldman Sachs and a pragmatic approach from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a South African immigrant who is a Trump adviser.

Google has created a crisis fund that is likely to raise $4 million for four immigrant rights organizations.

The Mountain View company confirmed a USA Today report that it is funding an initial $2 million for the fund that can be matched with up to $2 million in donations from employees. The money will go toward the American Civil Liberties Union, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the International Rescue Committee and the U.N. Refugee Agency.

The search engine’s doodle on Monday also recognized what would have been the 98th birthday of Fred Korematsu, an American civil rights activist who sharply criticized the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who wrote he had a “heavy heart” over Trump’s order, said the company plans to hire 10,000 refugees over five years around the world.

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

Starbucks is in direct contact with employees affected by the ban and will do “everything possible to support and help them to navigate through this confusing period,” Schultz said in a letter to employees posted on the coffee chain’s website.

In posting the letter, Schultz delivered one of corporate America’s fiercest rebukes against Trump’s immigration order. The message also brought a backlash; the #BoycottStarbucks hashtag was trending in the U.S. on Monday morning.

Although many Trump aides used to work for Goldman Sachs, including key adviser Steven Bannon, bank CEO Lloyd Blankfein was sharply critical of Trump’s policy in a voice mail sent Sunday to the firm’s 34,400 employees. He said the order is at odds with the firm’s long-held policies on workforce diversity and could disrupt Goldman Sachs’ business.

As for Tesla CEO Musk, he first criticized the ban, saying many of the people who would be hurt by it were supporters of the United States. But on Sunday he shifted tactics, asking his 6.9 million Twitter followers to read Trump’s executive order and suggest specific changes that the panel could present to Trump. That touched off a heated debate, with some arguing he should push the president to repeal the executive order altogether.

Musk’s response: “There is no possibility of retraction, but there is possibility of modification. It's just a non-zero possibility. Don’t know more.”