Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that his company is standing behind so-called ‘Dreamers,’ the roughly 800,000 U.S. residents who were brought to America illegally when they were children.
And the iPhone maker employs 250 of them.
Cook told ‘Good Morning America’ that he’s ‘encouraged’ by efforts in Congress and at the White House to salvage the DACA program, an Obama-era effort to shield them from deportation and give them work permits.
‘These folks – I think this is really important for everybody to understand – these folks came to the country when they were very young,’ he said.
Apple CEO Cook told ‘Good Morning America’ on Tuesday that DACA protectees ‘have great jobs’ and ‘pay taxes’
Donald Trump ended the program on Sept. 5 but gave Congress a six-month grace period to write it into law
Immigration activists have been protesting the president’s decision off and on for two weeks
‘Most of them don’t even remember coming to the country because they were 1, 2, 3 years old at the time. And these kids, if you talk to them, they deeply love this country.’
‘They have great jobs. They pay taxes. These guys are our neighbors. They’re our co-workers,’ Cook continued, ‘and so we feel it’s essential that we not only allow them to stay in our country but we welcome them, that we desire that they be here.’
‘I hope everyone reaches out and meets some of the dreamers, because it will really warm your heart in meeting them. And so I am encouraged that congress will pass a law to make this permanent and we’re doing everything we can to advocate for that.’
Cook raisde eyebrows two weeks ago when he tweeted that Dreamers ‘contribute to our companies and our communities just as much as you and I. Apple will fight for them to be treated as equals.’
‘250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreamers. I stand with them. They deserve our respect as equals and a solution rooted in American values,’ he added September 3 on Twitter.
Cook said Tuesday that Apple employs 250 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children – the so-called ‘Dreamers’
Tempers flared Monday in San Francisco when protesters shouted down Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, insisting that rescuing DACA isn’t enough
Although there are competing legislative proposals to make the DACA program permanent, ABC News reported that Cook prefers the DREAM Act, which would put them on a path to citizenship.
Cook did not express a preference on Tuesday morning. The DREAM Act is favored largely by liberal Democrats.
Trump announced on September 5 that he was ending DACA, subject to a six-month grace period allowing Congress to write it into law.
Cook and the heads of Amazon, Google, Netflix, eBay, Lyft and other companies wrote the White House a letter days beforehand, asking him to preserve the program.
‘Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy,’ the letter read. ‘With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.’
Seventy-two per cent of Fortune 500 companies reportedly employ people protected by DACA.
Speaking of DACA recipients, Cook said that ‘it’s essential that we not only allow them to stay in our country but we welcome them, that we desire that they be here’
In a mass email to Apple employees, Cook wrote then 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.’
Hours earlier, Attorney Jeff Sessions had claimed the DACA program represented an over-reach of Barack Obama’s executive power, and that Congress was empowered to legislate immigration policy.
‘As the attorney general, it is my duty to ensure that the laws of the United States are enforced and that the constitutional order is upheld,’ he said in a statement to reporters.
‘Ending the previous Administration’s disrespect for the legislative process is an important first step.’