Technology 4 min read

How the Biggest Names in Tech are Reacting to DACA Repeal

Andrew Cline | Shutterstock.com

Andrew Cline | Shutterstock.com

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will be rescinded in six months after an order from U.S. President Donald Trump. The tech world responds.

Founded in June 2012 by the Obama administration, the DACA creates a pathway for certain illegal immigrants (who came to the U.S. as minors) to defer deportation and acquire work permits.

President Trump has ordered the program to end in six months time–for anything to change, the U.S. Congress will have to act.

This move is a part of President Trump’s campaign promises to get tougher on all types of immigration. The ongoing travel ban from Muslim-majority countries and the pardoning of immigration hardliner Arizona Sherriff Joe Arpaio are examples of this.

How has the rescinding of DACA affected the tech world? We’ve compiled for you a number of high profile tech executives and their comments on the matter.

What the Tech World has to say

IBM, led by CEO Ginni Rometty, released a statement saying that the company: “Believes that Dreamers have made a positive contribution to our company and to our economy, and we support bipartisan legislation in Congress to allow them to remain in the United States.”

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tweeted: “Saddened by the decision to turn against our friends, neighbors & coworkers. Congress must do the right thing: protect Dreamers.”

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, following CEO Mark Zuckerberg, posted that she is “heartbroken and deeply concerned,” adding: “DACA has improved the lives of 800,000 young immigrants who were brought here as children. These ‘Dreamers’ are students, neighbors, doctors, and teachers. They help grow our economy and make our communities and country stronger.”

Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of the philanthropic Emerson Collective, released a statement saying: “Is there anything more heartless and less intelligent that our government could do? Is our common humanity so frayed in this country that we cannot agree even about the children?”

The Emerson Collective will begin a series of political TV ads supporting DACA today, using the words of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted, “Congress needs to act now to defend #DefendDACA”

Y Combinator visionary Sam Altman tweeted directly to those affected by the move, saying, “I can’t believe Trump is doing a political high-wire act with your lives. I’m so sorry.”

New Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi followed the company’s stance in the past when they offered legal aid to those affected by Trump’s travel ban, tweeting, “It’s against our values to turn our backs on #DREAMers.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a concrete example, tweeting that several of his coworkers from Apple were DREAMers.

For those interested, Elon Musk has yet to release a statement via Twitter or otherwise. Supposedly, he’s more busy fighting against the potential threat of artificial intelligence.

The rescinding of DACA flew in the face of an open letter supported by more than 400 U.S. CEOs, which asked Trump to continue the DACA program.

According to a report from FWD.us, the U.S. stands to lose over 700,000 jobs and billions of dollars worth of economic output if DACA is rescinded.

Tech Leaders Supporting the Repeal of DACA

According to TechCrunch, there are none.

But as one commenter pointed out:

If you know of some prominent tech executives or tech minds that support the repeal of DACA, we’d love for you to share their commentary for us to include in this article.

Whose Ears are More Deaf?

If these business executives pleas for DACA continuation fell on deaf ears with President Trump, they may hope that the U.S. Congress will be more receptive.

As a result, we are sure more of this open political commentary is coming, and we’ll keep you posted.

What are your thoughts on the repeal of DACA? 

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