Some of America’s largest companies have thrown their weight behind a campaign urging President Donald Trump not to scrap an Obama-era program that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from being deported.
CNN Money reports that more than 400 business leaders—including the CEO’s of Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB), Google (GOOGL), AT&T (T), and Wells Fargo (WFC)—have now signed a letter drafted by immigration advocacy group FWD.us on Thursday.
“Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. With them, we grow and create jobs,” the letter said. “They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.”
The term Dreamers refers to approximately 800,000 people who were bought to the U.S. illegally as children. Until former President Barack Obama instigated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy in 2012, Dreamers lived under the threat of deportation to countries many of them barely knew. Under DACA, Dreamers are eligible for two-year renewable work permits that protect them from deportation.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce plans to end the program Tuesday. The Trump administration will reportedly give Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, one of the campaign’s original backers, posted on Twitter Sunday: “250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreamers. I stand with them. They deserve our respect as equals and a solution rooted in American values.”
According to an FWD.us report published last week, the United States stands to lose up to 700,000 jobs and suffer billions of dollars in lost economic output if Trump proceeds with his plan to junk DACA.
The broad reach of the FWD.us letter—spanning the tech, retail, and financial sectors—is another sign of the widening rift between Trump and U.S. business leaders, who have slammed policies ranging from Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord to his travel bans. Trump’s two advisory business councils disbanded soon after his remarks on Charlottesville were widely criticized for appearing to confer legitimacy on white supremacist groups.
