Ultra.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
- Statue of Liberty
For 240 years America has been a nation of immigrants. We have been a beacon for all nations and all people — a land of liberty, freedom and equal opportunity. Anyone who puts in hard work can make it here. That is the American Dream.
This has been my personal experience as well — I moved here with absolutely nothing over a decade ago. America welcomed me as an immigrant, and gave me opportunities that my home country never did. There was rule of law, protection of rights, and an incredible community of people who were trying to invent the future. It didn’t matter that my skin was brown, or that I was from a muslim country — hard, honest work is all that mattered. And as a result over the years I’ve helped create hundreds of high-paying jobs for the country that welcomed me.
That is the America I know. That is the America I love.
Much of our team at Streamlabs is also made up of immigrants, or descended directly from immigrants, to whom this country afforded the same equal opportunity. This is America’s greatest competitive advantage over any other nation — it is our ability to welcome, enable and inspire the best people to do their best work here. No other country does this so successfully.
We reject the recent executive order that blanket-bans all visitors from several muslim countries. This is wrong and mis-guided. It violates our rights under law, undermines our democracy, and hurts the American Dream that makes this country great. This order will not make the country any safer — instead it will just motivate our enemies to proclaim even louder that, “See? We told you. America really hates you.”
Extreme vetting has already been in place since 9/11. Ask anyone who’s gone through year-long background checks and multiple screenings through immigration. Ask the refugees who are escaping war about the 3-year vetting process they go through. Your odds of getting into Harvard are higher.
We will match any contributions by our users, streamers or employees up to a total of $20,000 to the ACLU or other similar charity / non-profits that are fighting for immigrants’ and refugees’ rights. Please tweet us your receipt if you’ve donated, and we’ll send a matching donation to the same charity. All our employees will also be given as much time as they need to protest, volunteer or help local support groups.
In times like these, doing nothing is the same as doing wrong. We’ll always stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.