WASHINGTON: A coalition of rights groups laun­ched an online petition on Thursday urging IBM Corp to declare that it will not develop technology to help the Trump administration carry out a proposal to identify people for visa denial and deportation from the United States.

IBM and several other technology companies and contractors attended a July info­rmational session hos­ted by immigration enfo­rcement officials that discussed dev­eloping technology for vetting immigrants, said Steven Renderos, organising director at petitioner the Centre for Media Justice.

President Donald Trump has pledged to harden screening procedures for people looking to enter the country, and also called for “extreme vetting” of certain immigrants to ensure they are contributing to society, saying such steps are necessary to protect national security and curtail illegal immigration.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017