PARIS (AP) — France’s finance minister is urging French tech firm Capgemini to be absolutely clear over a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as calls develop for scrutiny of the company’s function in implementing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The corporate, which employs greater than 340,000 folks in additional than 50 nations, signed a contract with ICE in December by way of its subsidiary Capgemini Authorities Options (CGS).
“I urge Capgemini to shed gentle, in a particularly clear method, on its actions, on this coverage, and undoubtedly to query the character of those actions,” Finance Minister Roland Lescure informed French lawmakers late Tuesday.
Lescure feedback got here after Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat mentioned he not too long ago was made conscious of the contract awarded to CGS.
“The character and scope of this work has raised questions in comparison with what we usually do as a enterprise and know-how agency,” Ezzat mentioned in a message posted on LinkedIn. “In full respect of the separate governance and restrictions of CGS, I’ve been knowledgeable that the unbiased board of administrators has already begun the method of reviewing the content material and scope of this contract and CGS contracting procedures.”
Morris MacMatzen by way of Getty Photos
Ezzat mentioned that CGS engages with the U.S. federal authorities and operates beneath an settlement permitting it to deal with categorized work that requires separation of its operations from the Capgemini Group.
“This creates many restrictions, notably CGS has a board that’s managed by ‘cleared’ unbiased U.S. administrators, determination making is separate, networks are firewalled, and the Capgemini Group can’t entry any categorized info, categorized contracts, or something regarding the technical operations of CGS, as required by U.S. regulation,” he mentioned.
Lescure mentioned he was not satisfied by the argument that the subsidiary has a separate governance construction, leading to Capgemini not being conscious of the contract that has been signed.
“I informed them that this rationalization was not ample,” he mentioned. “And that the very least … one can count on is that an organization which owns subsidiaries ought to know what’s going on inside these corporations, and that that is what Capgemini has dedicated to doing.”
Trump’s immigration crackdown has in current weeks intensified in Minneapolis, resulting in the deadly shootings of two U.S. citizens by the hands of federal immigration officers.
