Nike CEO condemns Trump refugee ban as threat to values

Mark Parker_Nike

Nike president and CEO Mark Parker issued a statement Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in response to an executive order signed Friday by President Donald Trump that bans all people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days.

(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images )

Nike chief executive Mark Parker said the traditional values of inclusiveness his company stands for are being "threatened" by President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"Nike believes in a world where everyone celebrates the power of diversity," Parker wrote in a rare Sunday afternoon memo to employees. "Regardless of whether or how you worship, where you come from or who you love, everyone's individual experience is what makes us stronger as a whole."


Trump signed an executive order Friday prohibiting entry by people from seven majority-Muslim nations for 90 days. Citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya would be banned from entering the U.S. for the period, while the government determines what information it needs to safely admit visitors.

Some visa and green-card holders were blocked from boarding flights to the U.S. after the order was issued and several people were being detained at U.S. airports when they arrived, The New York Times reported. The Department of Homeland Security issued a directive on Friday afternoon ordering the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to enforce the order immediately.

Corporate leaders from all corners of the business community have questioned Trump's ban. Google and Microsoft executives went public over the weekend criticizing the action.The two companies said they had more than 175 employees subject to the ban. Google called more than 100 workers home.

On Friday, legendary investor Warren Buffet said ambitious, brainy immigrants are one of the secrets of America's global success.

Protesters gathered at airports nationwide to protest the executive order, including at Portland International Airport. Nike officials declined to say whether any of their employees are subject to the ban or what steps the company is taking to protect them.

Mo Farah, the native Somali distance running star, who runs for the United Kingdom but lives and trains in Oregon, issued a stinging Facebook post Sunday saying the Queen of England made him a knight of that country and Trump "seems to have made me an alien."

"I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years - working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home," wrote Farah, who has an endorsement contract with Nike. "Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome.


Parker said that Farah and the rest of the Nike community can count on the company's support.

"Nike stands together against bigotry and any form of discrimination," Parker wrote. "We learned that on the field of play, where fairness and mutual respect are the rule, not the exception. Now more than ever, let's stand up for our values and remain open and inclusive as a brand and a company. We are at our best when we recognize the value of our diverse community."

-- Jeff Manning