Apple chief criticises ‘inhumane’ US policy

APPLE boss Tim Cook has slated the US decision to forcibly separate children from their parents as part of a new ‘get tough’ migration control policy by the Trump administration.

Mr Cook, who visited Dublin and Cork, was outspoken in his criticism of the scenes depicted on US TV from migration detention centres in Texas and other US states.

His comments came as he met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin and then visited Cork to open a new unit at the firm’s sprawling Hollyhill plant where Apple employ more than 5,000 people.

The California-based firm employ more than 6,000 people across Ireland.

The Apple boss slated the controversial US migration policy as “inhumane”, “heartbreaking”, “tragic” and warned that “it needs to stop.”

He also vowed that Apple would liaise closely with US officials in a bid to tackle the issue.

“It is heartbreaking to see the images and hear the sounds of the kids,” he said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has said that it is “dismayed” by the US government’s policy after it was criticised for working with the national border agency.

The technology giant boasted about a commercial deal with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January, when it said it was “proud” to work with the agency.

However, when the company’s work with ICE began to attract more criticism on social media, an employee deleted a section of a recent blog post describing its work with ICE.

The section was quickly restored, and Microsoft said deleting part of the statement was a mistake and as soon as it was noticed it was restored.

The company then distanced itself from ICE’s policy of separating illegal immigrant families at the US-Mexico border.