Apple has added its name to a letter of support for a legal challenge to President Trump’s attempts to end DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which protects undocumented immigrants who were brought into the U.S. when they were minors.
Other tech companies to sign the brief include IBM, Google, Lyft, Microsoft, Twitter, and others.
Apple says that it employs 250 DACA holders in 28 states. Apple noted in its own court filing that:
“These talented and entrepreneurial people fill important and varied roles across the company, including in operations, research and development, administration, sales and marketing, and retail. Apple and its customers have benefitted greatly from their intelligence, ambition, creativity, resilience, and hard work. These employees are important contributors to Apple’s unique culture. That unique culture enables employees throughout Apple to do the best work of their lives and excel at creating the most innovative products and providing the very best customer service.”
This isn’t the first time Apple has voiced its opposition to rescinding DACA. Back in September, Tim Cook joined the CEOs of Microsoft, Amazon, HP, Google, and others in signing a letter from immigration reform group FWD.us. The letter asked that President Donald Trump keep in place legal protection under the DACA act, arguing that they are vital to the economy, and “with them, we grow and create jobs.”
Apple also previously clashed with President Trump on the subject of immigration when opposing Trump’s controversial executive order temporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. In the aftermath, Cook said that Apple employees affected by the ban would be able to draw on Apple’s expert HR, legal and security teams.
Source: Axios
