Image: INQUIRER.net stock photo
Tech giants Microsoft, Apple, and Google are some of the companies in Silicon Valley defending workers who may face deportation after the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was terminated.
The policy from the Obama administration aimed to protect young immigrants who came to the United States illegally because of their parents.
Tech CEOs have since voiced their support online for their Dreamer employees. Some, like Microsoft and Apple, are going as far as using company resources to protect their workers.
In a blog post, Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote, “If Congress fails to act, our company will exercise its legal rights properly to help protect our employees… If the government seeks to deport any one of them, we will provide and pay for their legal counsel.”
Microsoft has 39 Dreamers, for whom the company’s CEO Satya Nadella expressed support.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Image: Microsoft
Dreamers make our country & communities stronger. We stand for diversity and economic opportunity for everyone. https://t.co/gRCr8VWwcN
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) September 5, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he “stands with” Dreamers, and cited that 250 employees in the company fall under the program.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image: Apple
250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreamers. I stand with them. They deserve our respect as equals and a solution rooted in American values.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 3, 2017
In a Recode report, Cook said that Apple will provide workers the “support they need, including the advice of immigration experts.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the repeal “cruel” and that those under DACA are “friends and neighbors.” He also called on Congress to pass an alternative to allow immigrants under those circumstances to become citizens.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also called on Congress for a solution and referred to Dreamers as “neighbors, friends, and co-workers”:
Dreamers are our neighbors, our friends and our co-workers. This is their home. Congress needs to act now to #DefendDACA. #WithDreamers
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) September 5, 2017
Google spokesperson Riva Sciuto gave TechCrunch the following statement:
“The DACA program has provided critical protections to hundreds of thousands of individuals, including Google employees and their families, allowing them to continue to make important contributions to our country, society, and economy. We are disappointed in today’s decision to end the program and urge Congress to take quick action to enact a permanent legislative solution.”
Rental company Airbnb founders Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, and Nate Blecharczyk expressed, “We founded Airbnb based on the idea that our lives and our world are better when we accept each other. Those aren’t just economic or business values. Those are the values America has been and should be all about.”
Here’s our statement on #DACA pic.twitter.com/BvzhEKhIKJ
— Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) September 5, 2017
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on September 6 that the program will cease accepting applications and that it would be rescinded.
Congress was given six months to come up with a solution to prevent the deportation of up to around 800,000 people.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, 10,000 Filipinos may be affected by the repeal. JB
RELATED STORIES:
Trump rescinding DACA program protecting young immigrants
10K Filipinos may be affected by rescinded US immigration policy—DFA