TOP FIRMS PLAN TO FIGHT FOR ‘DREAMERS’

Coalition may be set up to demand legislation allowing young, undocumented individuals a path to permanent US residency

NEARLY two dozen major companies in technology and other industries are planning to launch a coalition to demand legislation that would allow young, illegal immigrants a path to permanent residency, documents seen by Reuters showed.

The Coalition for the American Dream intended to ask Congress to pass legislation this year that would allow these immigrants, often referred to as “Dreamers”, to continue working in the United States, said the documents.

Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp, Facebook Inc, Intel Corp, Uber Technologies Inc, IBM Corp, Marriott International Inc and other top US firms are listed as members, the documents show.

Intel, Uber and Univision Communications Inc confirmed their membership, but the other companies did not immediately comment. It is possible that plans to launch the group could change.

The push for this legislation comes after President Donald Trump’s September decision to allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme to expire in March.

That programme, established by former president Barack Obama in 2012, allows approximately 900,000 illegal immigrants to obtain work permits.

Some 800 companies signed a letter to Congressional leaders after Trump’s decision, calling for legislation protecting Dreamers. That effort was spearheaded by a pro-immigration reform group Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg co-founded in 2013 called FWD.us.

Many of the companies that endorsed that letter are named as joining the new coalition. The group had planned to take out ads in news publications, though this was subject to change, said an email seen by Reuters. A signup form for the group said 72 per cent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies employed DACA recipients.

Trump campaigned for president on a pledge to toughen immigration policies and build a wall along the US border with Mexico. He has left the fate of DACA up to Congress.

Action may come in December, when Congress must pass a spending bill to keep the US government open.

Democrats have considered insisting on help for the Dreamers as their price for providing votes that may be required to prevent a government shutdown.

“No politician wants to go home for the holidays and read stories about how this is going to be DACA recipients’ last holidays in the US,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us.

He declined to comment on the new coalition.

“You will see this continue to escalate until the end of the year,” he said.