Uber CEO leaves Donald Trump's advisory council after immigrant ban fallout

While Microsoft urges US to reduce rules for students and workers

The CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, has stepped down from president Donald Trump's advisory board in protest at the recent immigrant ban that caused protests across the world.

The move comes after Uber faced heavy criticism from users that it was perceived to be using the protests at airports in the US that erupted after the ban went into place to cash in on getting people to and from the airports.

These led to the #deleteuber hashtag becoming popular on Twitter, and as many as 200,000 users are said to have uninstalled the app in protest, while Uber rival Lyft has seen its popularity surge.

Kalanick also faced vocal dissent from employees at the firm in the aftermath of the incident, with many questioning why he was still on the advisory board.

In the past the Uber CEO has said that having a seat at the table was the best way to try and ensure the new administration was aware of the needs and desires of businesses like Uber.

However, given the backlash against the business, Kalanick is clearly spooked and wary of losing more customers, as well as alienating drivers, many of whom are immigrants.

The incident underlines the unease between tech giant and the new White House administration, with some such as Amazon already getting involved in legal battles against the White House in protest at the ban.

Microsoft has also written to new secretary of state Rex Tillison and Department of Homeland Security John kelly to urge them to introduce nefast-track processes for ‘responsible known travelers with pressing needs', to avoid panic and uncertainty for workers in the US.

In the letter they note that many Microsoft employees are based in the US but have family elsewhere, and so the stress of not knowing their status should they need to leave the US is hard to bear.

"Microsoft has 76 employees who, together with their 41 dependents, have non-immigrant visas's to live and work in the United States and are impacted by the Executive Order. After contacting these employees and their families, we have learned that some of them have particularly pressing needs," it said.

"For example, we are concerned about families that have been separated as one or both parents were outside the United States last Friday and therefore cannot re-enter the country and are stranded away from their homes.

"We are also concerned about an impacted employee inside the United States with a desperate need to visit a critically-ill parent abroad. These situations almost certainly are not unique to our employees and their families."

They also said that students in the US who have "placed a bet" on the nation's education system need to be secure that if they had to return home for a family emergency they would not be risking being unable to return afterwards.