Tech leaders to Trump: Dreamers are 'vital to the future'
There's no U.S. tech industry without immigrants—Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
They, among other leaders in Silicon Valley, are reminding President Trump just how important immigrants are as he reportedly seeks to eliminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
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Introduced by the Obama administration in 2012, DACA protects the children of illegal immigrants from being deported under certain conditions. The people who fall under DACA are known as Dreamers. On Friday, President Donald Trump is expected to eliminate the program in its entirety.
Silicon Valley executives coordinated by Mark Zuckerberg's immigration reform group FWD.us have published an open letter in support of DACA. The letter is signed by hundreds of tech CEOs, including leaders at Google, Amazon, Lyft, Twitter, Snap, and Facebook.
"Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage," reads the letter on FWD.us's website.
Supporting immigrants and emigration to the United States is a crucial policy point for many tech leaders. It was part of the conversation when Trump invited tech CEOs to Trump Tower in New York for a roundtable prior to his inauguration and also during Trump's Tech Week.
Some, like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, are immigrants themselves. So is Google cofounder Sergey Brin. They both employ immigrants, some of whom may benefit from the DACA program. Microsoft shared in a blog post that 27 employees are beneficiaries of DACA.
The FWD.us letter makes the business case for DACA and includes statistics like "more than 97 percent [of Dreamers] are in school or in the workforce, 5 percent started their own business, 65 percent have purchased a vehicle, and 16 percent have purchased their first home. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees."
Tech leaders don't just want to keep DACA in place. They are hoping for more comprehensive immigration reform that would further protect Dreamers.
“We’re also calling on Congress to finally pass the Dream Act or another permanent, legislative solution that Dreamers deserve," Zuckerberg wrote in a separate post on his Facebook page. Zuckerberg has repeatedly spoken about the topic, including in his commencement address at Harvard University in May.
Separately from FWD.us, Uber put out a statement in support of DACA. This comes just a few days after the ride-hailing giant named former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi as its new CEO. Khosrowshahi emigrated from Iran.
“Dreamers grew up here, live here, and are contributing to our communities and our economy," an Uber spokesperson wrote in a statement. "Their contributions make America more competitive and they deserve the opportunity to work, study, and pursue the American dream.”
This is far from the first Trump policy that has angered Silicon Valley. Trump's crackdown on the H-1B program, which provides visas for foreign workers, led to public statements from many tech leaders. The tech industry is also fighting for net neutrality. Apple released a new statement on that topic Thursday.
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