Tech giants slam Trump for action on immigrants
Technology companies and executives of other industries criticized the Trump administration for its plan to undo protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants and called on Congress to help them.
President Donald Trump said he will dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an Obama-era initiative that allowed young people who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children to work legally in the U.S., shielding them from deportation. Winding down the program could put the immigrants at risk of being sent back to the countries of their birth. The administration says Congress has six months to come up with a fix.
Tech companies have pushed back against efforts to curb immigration, which they see as vital to their industry. Immigrants make up about one-quarter of the U.S. tech and science workforce, and many in Silicon Valley feel a personal connection to the issue.
On Tuesday, Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, said in a blog post that Congress should “move quickly with new legislation to protect these 800,000 Dreamers,” using a popular term for the young immigrants.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the decision “a sad day for our country.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a note to employees that he was “deeply dismayed that 800,000 Americans — including more than 250 of our Apple coworkers — may soon find themselves cast out of the only country they’ve ever called home.”
Uber, Google and IBM were among other tech companies that criticized Trump’s action.