John Stankey
Chief Executive Officer, AT&T
208 S. Akard St.
Dallas, TX 75202
November 15, 2025
AT&T CEO John Stankey,
We write with profound concern in regard to AT&T’s contracts with Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), and the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS).
As you know, ICE and CBP have been active in Illinois and other states terrorizing our
communities. No one is safe when masked and armed government agents can drive
armored vehicles around our neighborhoods, taking people off the street and from front
yards, childcare centers, and school grounds, sometimes throwing tear gas canisters in
our neighborhoods.
For years, AT&T has had multimillion-dollar contracts with DHS, CBP, and ICE. We
demand AT&T drop those contracts and pledge not to sign new ones. AT&T should not
profit from government agencies terrorizing our communities – AT&T must not profit
from our pain.
We are calling on people in Illinois and around the country to refuse to buy or upgrade
any AT&T products or plans this holiday season until AT&T drops these contracts and
pledges not to sign new ones.
AT&T’s actions that harm our communities go beyond your company’s contracts with
ICE/CBP as those agencies terrorize our communities. AT&T publicly supported
Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which kicks 15 million working class people off of health care
coverage and will close clinics and hospitals, especially in rural America. Meanwhile,
AT&T is benefiting from huge tax breaks: AT&T will save $8 billion in tax cuts over three
years thanks to extensions of the 2017 tax cuts, and the Trump Administration is
backing off of a crackdown on a tax shelter being used by the corporation that’s worth
billions more.
The vast majority of AT&T’s revenue and profit comes from its consumer-facing sales,
not contracts with federal government agencies terrorizing our communities–and your
customers are among those being harmed. For example, in 2024 alone, AT&T took
billions in profit and $122.3 billion in revenue, the vast majority coming from sales to
individuals and businesses. You are putting those revenues at risk and risking
reputational and economic costs to the corporation by continuing the ICE, CBP, and
DHS contracts.
We expect an immediate response to these concerns. We will be holding non-violent
peaceful public speakouts outside AT&T stores on this Sunday, November 16, across
Illinois to highlight your contracts with federal government agencies that are harming our
communities. Please reply to R.S.V.P. yourself for one of those gatherings to hear
directly from the communities harmed by government agencies with which AT&T
contracts and what you must do to rectify the situation.
Sincerely,
| Jesse Hoyt One People’s Campaign | Sulma Arias People’s Action | Will Tanzman The People’s Lobby |
