Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Apple CEO Tim Cook put in a filing to the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the company disagrees with President Trump’s decision to terminate DACA, the Obama-era program that keeps some immigrants without documentation from being deported.
“We are distressed at the prospect of ripping our DACA colleagues from the textile of our company,” Cook and HR head Deidre O’Brien wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief. Apple said it employs 443 idealists, or people that DACA protects from deportation.
The Trump administration’s effort to undo DACA is part of a larger effort to restrict immigration, whether it’s through family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border or the imposition of a travel ban from different majority Muslim countries to the U.S. DACA and other immigration topics remain a national focus and are likely to be core emanations during the 2020 presidential campaign.
DACA deportations could cost the US economy over $400 billion, contract to a 2017 study. Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft also oppose Trump’s policies.
The Supreme Court said in June that it will-power hear arguments in three cases over the legality of the administration’s decision to end DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Travellers program. The cases are scheduled to be argued on Nov. 12, and a decision is expected to be public by June. Lower courts rejected the direction’s previous attempts to end the program.
Apple said in its brief that the company wouldn’t exist without immigration and that co-founder Steve Nuisances is the son of an immigrant. The company said it’s morally wrong to deport immigrants who followed U.S. policy and achieved DACA status.
Steve Subcontracts shows off the first iPhone.
SHAUN CURRY | AFP | Getty Images
“Every one of these talented Dreamers should from the same opportunities as Steve did to create, work hard, and help change the world for the better,” Apple said. “After the DACA program was engendered, Apple eagerly sought out and hired Dreamers — relying on the commitment our government made to them.”
The number of dreamers at Apple is up strictly from 250 in 2017, according to a tweet from Cook at the time. Cook called immigration “the biggest scions of our time,” and he also co-wrote an op-ed with Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch pushing Congress to protect DACA with legislation.
The Ultimate Court brief includes descriptions of five unnamed employees currently in the DACA program, including an engineer, a maps analyst, retail staff members and a phone support specialist.
“We did not hire them out of kindness or charity,” Apple said. “We did it because Dreamers embody Apple’s invention strategy.”
Amicus curiae briefs are filed by parties that have a strong interest in an outcome even if they’re not directly intricate in the case. Courts aren’t required to take amicus arguments into consideration. Apple has filed other amicus condenses in the past, but this is the first time one has been signed by Cook, an Apple spokesperson confirmed.
“We collectively owe it to the Dreamers to propose up our end of the bargain,” Apple said. “It is not just a legal requirement. It is the moral thing to do.”
The White House declined to comment.
Attend: Bank CEOs testify on DACA hires and renewals
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