Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the Time 100 Summit event on April 23, 2019 in New York.
Don Emmert | AFP | Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass an immigration reform that would create a pathway to immigrant citizenship known as “Dreamers”.
Cook issued the statement on behalf of the Business Roundtable, an influential group of prominent corporate leaders. Cook is the chairman of the group’s immigration committee.
The statement continues Cook’s defense on behalf of Dreamers and follows comments from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who praised the bill Wednesday.
“Dreamers have been at the forefront of fighting the pandemic as health workers, caring for our communities, and working in the disciplines and industries that will help the United States become stronger on the other side. of COVID-19, ”Cook wrote.
The business roundtable also called for further reform beyond the Dream and Promises Act to address the country’s “broken immigration system”.
Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. According to its authors, the Dream Act would create a path to citizenship of about 2.5 million people. Democrats in the House are expected to advance the bill this week.
Cook, in particular, has been outspoken about Dreamers. On Thursday, he said Apple employs 450 Dreamers in a tweet. In 2019, Cook co-authored a friendship brief filed with the Supreme Court with detailed narratives from several Dreamer Apple employees. The court then debated whether the Trump administration’s decision to end the Obama-era program that protects Dreamers was legal.
“We do this here to emphasize that Apple not only cares about us as a company, but we care about them as leaders, colleagues, and human beings,” Cook wrote at the time. “This is an issue we feel is fundamental.”
The full business roundtable statement is reproduced below:
Dreamers — who came to America as children and know it as their only home — make invaluable contributions to America, and certainly to companies like ours. Dreamers have been at the forefront of fighting the pandemic as health workers, caring for our communities, and working in the disciplines and industries that will help America become stronger on the other side of COVID. -19. As we work to energize the American economy, we need their continued contributions as equal partners in American history and urge members on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of the American Dream and Promise Act to help to make it possible.
The vast majority of Americans believe that defending Dreamers should be a priority. As the American Dream and Promise Act moves forward, the business roundtable urges policymakers to prioritize bipartisan and practical solutions to addressing our broken immigration system, enforcing the rule of law, and responding to the urgent challenges we face. we face.