Silicon Valley's opposition to the presumed Republican presidential nominee reached new heights on Thursday, when a group of 145 tech sector leaders published a letter warning that placing Donald Trump in the White House "would be a disaster for innovation."

The letter, posted on online publishing platform Medium, criticizes Trump's controversial remarks about women and minorities, and states that "his vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy."

Its signatories include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, along with venture capitalists and digital rights advocates. The letter also contains a disclaimer noting that those endorsing its views are doing so in their "personal capacity."

"We stand against Donald Trump's divisive candidacy and want a candidate who embraces the ideals that built America's technology industry: freedom of expression, openness to newcomers, equality of opportunity , public investments in research and infrastructure, and respect for the rule of law," the letter says.

The missive comes as Trump's call to limit immigration and his criticism of Apple for defending the use of encrypted communications have ruffled feathers in the tech industry, which views privacy rights and skilled immigrant labor as essential to its business model.

Silicon Valley executives also have faced pressure to distance themselves from Trump and the Republican National Convention from customers and activists who have come to expect a social conscience from the youth-driven sector.

Thursday's letter counters Trump's calls to limit immigration by stating "40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children."

"Donald Trump, meanwhile, traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes, repeatedly insults women, and is openly hostile to immigration," the letter states. "His reckless disregard for our legal and political institutions threatens to upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America."