SILICON VALLEY SLAMS DISMANTLING OF DACA
Apple, Microsoft vow to help workers facing immigration trouble
Don’t mess with DACA.
That was the message from major technology companies that are pressuring lawmakers to take swift action on a legislative fix after the Trump administration said it would jettison an immigration program that allows young people who were brought to the U. S. illegally as children to remain here.
Apple and Microsoft, two of the companies to come out swinging against the president’s decision to dump Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, pledged to shield employees who could face legal troubles or deportation.
Microsoft President Brad Smith urged Congress to move swiftly with legislation to preserve the immigration program, prioritizing DACA over tax reform. “We say this even though Microsoft, like many other companies, cares greatly about modernizing the tax system and making it fairer and more com-
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petitive,” he wrote.
The Trump administration on Tuesday began winding down the Obama- era immigration program that has allowed some 800,000 young people to study and work in the U. S. but invited Congress to address it through legislation within six months.
The sharp rebuke from Silicon Valley reflects the toughening stance toward Trump administration policies as tech companies seek to protect their business interests and preserve their public image as the “Do no evil” wing of corporate America.
Posing the greatest threat to the tech industry is Trump’s “Hire American” policy and his administration’s growing efforts to curb immigration. Changes to the nation’s immigration rules could undercut the employment practices and bottom lines of major tech companies, both through restrictions on legal immigration — temporary H- 1B visas — and on young people who work in tech through DACA.
“This is just the latest chapter of Silicon Valley feeling that the president is out of touch, certainly, with their needs here, if not the nation’s,” said Larry Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University.
For Silicon Valley, immigration has been the key to revving up the greatest wealth- creation machine on the planet. Engineers and entrepreneurs from overseas have played a vital role in building and running some of technology’s most powerful companies. Tech companies say they rely on that steady stream of skilled talent, frequently on H- 1B visas, to build their products and companies and to address a shortage of engineers.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was “deeply dismayed” by Trump’s decision. Apple will provide the approximately 250 employees at Apple potentially affected by the termination of DACA with the support they need, including the counsel of immigration experts, he said.
Among the other tech company CEOs speaking out were Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Box’s Aaron Levie.