Columbia president and CEO Tim Boyle penned an open letter condemning President Trump’s recent rhetoric on immigration and pledging support for ‘individuals with diverse backgrounds.’
Columbia’s president and CEO believes America’s increasingly restrictive immigration policy is bad for business and bad for the country.
That much became clear Friday when Tim Boyle circulated an open letter in the wake of the U.S. government’s decision to deny a visa to one of Columbia’s foreign business partners. Columbia had invited the “longtime international customer” to a sales meeting at its Oregon headquarters.
But that decision, on the heels of increasingly divisive immigration rhetoric by President Trump, sparked a response from the $2.5 billion global sportswear brand. A brand, Boyle noted, that was launched by an immigrant fleeing Nazi Germany. Read Boyle’s full letter below.
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Columbia CEO Tim Boyle: Open Letter on Immigration
Dear Colleagues,
In recent months, we’ve been trying to assist one of our longtime international customers with a visa to visit our headquarters, view our products, and work with our internal teams to grow our business and continue to create sales overseas and economic opportunity here in Oregon.
Just last week, the U.S. government refused to grant a visa, because of a concern that the person might actually try to stay in the United States (instead of returning to his home country, where his business and all of his family is located). The government knew the person was our business partner, that we fully supported the visit and depended on it to grow our business. But the fear that someone might be an “immigrant” prevented a short trip to our sales meeting.
I was thinking about this frustrating and unjustified decision, one that negatively affects all of us at Columbia who are striving to grow a successful business with strong global partners, when I saw the news that the President of the United States had been using Twitter to tell some members of Congress to go back to the countries they are “from” (even though all are U.S. citizens and three of the four he targeted are born in the U.S.). That kind of taunting language is far more extreme than the refusal to process a routine visa application, but there is a theme through both that should be unacceptable in any organization and certainly at the top of our government. I wanted to take a moment to tell you why it is unacceptable at Columbia.
I’ve said it before, but it unfortunately bears repeating that Columbia exists in Oregon because Gert was able to escape Nazi Germany in 1937. We understand, from personal experience, what it means when government leaders demonize any group as being inferior, unworthy, and fundamentally unwelcome to be a part of a country. We were incredibly fortunate to be able to move to the great state of Oregon. The ideals in the U.S., while not perfectly executed, supported the notion that we would have the same opportunities as others, and we feel strongly about paying that forward.
Telling any citizen to “go back home” is offensive. This is home. Diversity is one of the great strengths of our global business, and it is important to be open and welcoming toward individuals with diverse backgrounds, including our colleagues and community members who are already here in the United States, as well as those who are a part of our global team.
Sincerely,
Tim Boyle
