Leading technology companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook have begun drafting an open letter to US President Donald Trump on immigration.
While US President Donald Trump’s controversial Executive Order on Immigration has caused much furore in the international community, leading technology companies in the US have taken up the challenge of appealing the order.
Previously, companies such as Amazon – under CEO Jeff Bezos – have led the charge in threatening legal action in conjunction with the Washington State Attorney General, who is presently suing Trump over the order.
Other technology executives – such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella – have issued internal notices to their respective companies indicating that the order is one they “do not support”. In the case of the latter, Nadella – himself an immigrant to the US – cited his belief that “we‘re (Microsoft) a multinational company that is an American company.“
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has further issued his own quiet perspective on the order, illustrating that both his wife Priscilla Chan’s parents and his own grandparents are immigrants to the US.
Read: Zuckerberg, Bezos and Nadella tackle Trump‘s Immigration Order
Now, leading technology companies including Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Stripe and more have begun to collaborate on a draft open letter to issue to President Donald Trump on the order. The letter, obtained by Recode, reads:
“Dear President Trump,
Since the country‘s birth, America has been the land of opportunity ““ welcoming newcomers and giving them the chance to build families, careers, and businesses in the United States. We are a nation made stronger by immigrants. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, our ability to grow our companies and create jobs depends on the contributions of immigrants from all backgrounds.
We share your goal of ensuring that our immigration system meets today‘s security needs and keeps our country safe. We are concerned, however, that your recent executive order will affect many visa holders who work hard here in the United States and contribute to our country‘s success. In a global economy, it is critical that we continue to attract the best and brightest from around the world. We welcome the changes your administration has made in recent days in how the Department of Homeland Security will implement the executive order, and we stand ready to help your administration identify other opportunities to ensure that our employees can travel with predictability and without undue delay.
Our nation‘s compassion is a part of what makes it exceptional, and we are committed to helping your administration identify approaches for thorough screening without a blanket suspension of admissions under the U.S. Refugee Admissions program. While security and vetting procedures can and should always be subject to continuous evaluation and improvement, a blanket suspension is not the right approach.
Similarly, we stand ready to identify ways of helping to achieve your stated goal of bringing clarity to the future of the 750,000 Dreamers in this country under the protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in a way “œthat will make people happy and proud.“ Removing these protections by barring renewals would effectively end the program and eliminate the ability for these Dreamers to work and live without the fear of deportation.
The business community shares your commitment to growing the American economy and expanding job creation across the country. We hire both thousands of Americans and some of the most talented people from abroad, who work together to help our companies succeed and expand our overall employment. As you contemplate changes to the nation‘s complex and interconnected immigration policies, whether business and employment-based visas, refugees, or DACA, we hope that you will use us as a resource to help achieve immigration policies that both support the work of American businesses and reflect American values.”
Under the Immigration Order, the United States is set to block entry of all refugees for 120 days, block citizens of Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen for 90 days, and placed an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees.
Read: Trump offers Apple a “˜very large tax cut‘ to manufacture products in the US
What are your thoughts? How else could leading technology firms come together to voice their say on US immigration? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
