SAN FRANCISCO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A group of activists staged protests at the Amazon office in downtown San Francisco Monday, urging the U.S. top online retailer to cut supply of new technology like facial recognition to federal agencies.

The demonstrators holding posters and shouting slogans rallied in front of the Amazon office on the first day of the annual two-day Prime Day shopping event that Amazon hopes to draw millions of global users for big sales that would possibly rake in billions of U.S. dollars.

Some of the protesters complained that Amazon provided facial recognition technology to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which may be used to detect undocumented immigrants and facilitate ICE deportation.

They said Amazon not only sells products online, but also markets web services that are a technology and data platform which allows the ICE to collect information and target people for deportation.

U.S. media disclosed some emails last year showing that Amazon pitched its facial-recognition system, Rekognition, to ICE officials to facilitate the agency to target and identify immigrants during homeland security investigations.

Monday's demonstrations coincided with earlier reports that federal immigrant authorities would launch massive raids on about 2,000 immigrant families facing deportation orders in 10 U.S. cities including San Francisco.

The much-ballyhooed weekend sweep, which was said to begin on Sunday, has stoked fears among undocumented residents who remain fearful of deportation in many U.S. cities.

In Seattle, similar protests took place at Amazon's headquarters to press the American e-commerce giant to cut its business ties with the ICE, as photos published on social media showing the protesters holding signs reading "No Tech for ICE" and "End Detention, End Deportation."

Local KIRO7 TV channel that serves Seattle and Tacoma areas reported that the demonstrators wanted to use the Amazon Prime Day to draw public attention to Amazon's workplace conditions and its business connections with the ICE.

Market analysts forecast that Amazon is expected to net about 5.8 billion dollars in sales during the mid-summer shopping spree this year. The company was reported to have brought in 3.9 billion dollars in sales last year.

Amazon did not disclose specific figures of the Prime Day sales in 2018, but admitted that the company sold more than 100 million products and added tens of millions of members during the sale period. Amazon has reportedly 100 million members around the world.

In response to the protests in the U.S. cities, Amazon said in a statement published by KIRO7 TV that "events like Prime Day have become an opportunity for our critics, including unions, to raise awareness for their cause, in this case, increased membership dues."

When referring to its ties with the ICE, Amazon said it believes that "companies and government organizations need to use existing and new technology responsibly and lawfully."

"There is clearly a need for more clarity from governments on what is acceptable use of AI and ramifications for its misuse, and we've provided a proposed legislative framework for this," it said. Enditem

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