Apple joins coalition of companies supporting Dreamers


Tim Cook and Ivanka Trump
Tim Cook has been an outspoken supporter of Dreamers.
Photo: Apple

Apple has teamed up with a whole lot of other companies — including Amazon, Facebooks and others — to urge Congress to protect the ability of so-called “Dreamer” immigrants to legally stay and work in the U.S.

“With the re-opening of the federal government and the presumptive restart of immigration and border security negotiations, now is the time for Congress to pass a law to provide Dreamers the certainty they need,” the coalition of companies wrote in a letter to lawmakers. “These are our friends, neighbors, and coworkers, and they should not have to wait for court cases to be decided to determine their fate when Congress can act now.”

They have also paid for a full-page ad to be placed in the New York Times. It appears in the newspaper today, titled “Congress Must Act to Protect Dreamers: We Need a Permanent Bipartisan Solution Now.”

A recurring theme under President Trump

The status of undocumented kids brought to the U.S. has been a major topic of argument during Donald’s Trump’s tenure as president. He has long opposed former President Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program.

While he has been willing to discuss legal protection for Dreamers in return for money to fund his promised border wall, this has been shot down by Democrats.

The case made by Apple and other companies is not purely based on ethics. It also makes an economic argument for the status of DACA-protected individuals in the U.S. In the letter, the coalition suggests that losing these employees would cost $350 billion in GDP and $90 billion in tax revenue.

Tim Cook supports Dreamers

This is not the first time Apple has come out in support of Dreamers. In late 2017, Tim Cook joined the CEOs of Microsoft, Amazon, HP, Google and other companies in signing a letter from immigration reform group

The letter urged Trump to keep in place legal protections under the DACA act. It argued that young immigrants living in the United States illegally who were brought there as children are a vital part of the economy, and “with them, we grow and create jobs.”

Later, Cook joined more than 100 prominent CEOs in writing another letter, urging Congress to pass legislation to protect Dreamers. Cook has pointed out that at least 250 Dreamers are employed by Apple, and could face deportation under changed laws.

Source: CNBC