Microsoft chief Satya Nadella blasts "abhorrent" US border agency after ICE backlash

Microsoft's global chief executive Satya Nadella has downplayed the company's involvement in the US government's controversial family separation policy after employees urged Microsoft to scrap its existing contract.

In the wake of revelations about the US government's policy of separating migrant parents from their children, a Microsoft blog post from earlier in the year resurfaced, saying the software giant was "proud to support" US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) IT innovation through its Azure Government cloud platform.

The New York Times reported that more than 100 Microsoft employees signed an open letter, urging the company to cancel its reported US$19.4 million contract with ICE. Microsoft employees and other members of the tech community have also planned protests outside the company's Washington DC headquarters.

A company spokesperson issued a statement saying Microsoft wasn't working on any projects related to the controversial policy.

"As a company, Microsoft is dismayed by the forcible separation of children from their families at the border," the spokesperson added.

"We urge the administration to change its policy and Congress to pass legislation ensuring children are no longer separated from their families."

Nadella backed up the statement in a post on LinkedIn, labelling the policy "abhorrent," adding that Microsoft stands with immigrants and for a change to the ICE's treatment of children at the US border.

He also clarified that Microsoft was not working on any projects involved in the separation policy, and that its engagement with ICE is to support legacy mail, calendar, messaging and document management workloads.

"Microsoft has a long history of taking a principled approach to how we live up to our mission of empowering every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more with technology platforms and tools, while also standing up for our enduring values and ethics," said Nadella.

"Any engagement with any government has been and will be guided by our ethics and principles. We will continue to have this dialogue both within our company and with our stakeholders outside."