US tech giants, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, have pledged to stand by their employees after the Trump administration scrapped an amnesty programme that granted work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children.
Microsoft and Apple are offering the most full-throated defence of “Dreamers” — undocumented individuals who have been in the US since they were young and registered with the federal government to get work permits. Apple CEO Tim Cook condemned the Trump administration’s decision and pledged in a note to employees to offer any employees affected by the change the “support they need, including the advice of immigration experts.”
Apple will “fight” for its Dreamers, Cook tweeted. “#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,” he tweeted.
“You’re going to have to go through us to deport Dreamers who work here,” Microsoft said, adding it will stick by its employees affected by any change to DACA, even in court.
“If Congress fails to act, our company will exercise its legal rights properly to help protect our employees,” Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote in a blog post.