End of DACA condemned by tech giants

Written by asandre | Published 2017/09/05
Tech Story Tags: immigration | technology | social-media | government | silicon-valley

TLDRvia the TL;DR App

Facebook, Google, eBay, Apple, Microsoft, Salesforce, Linkedin, Twitter… Silicon Valley stands with Dreamers and voices its discontent.

“This is a sad day for our country, said Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post right after the decision was announced. “The decision to end DACA is not just wrong. It is particularly cruel to offer young people the American Dream, encourage them to come out of the shadows and trust our government, and then punish them for it.”

Tim Cook of Apple posted on Twitter during the weekend, stressing that around 250 employees at the company are Dreamers: “I stand with them,” he said. “They deserve our respect as equals and a solution rooted in American values.”

Also on Twitter, Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, who called upon Congress to act for much needed legislation.

In a long blog post, Smith reminds us that “these 800,000 individuals came to our nation as children.”

He said: “They grew up in this country. They attended our local schools and count millions of American citizens as friends. They obey our laws, pay taxes here and have registered voluntarily with the federal government for DACA relief. They are loyal to this country and contribute their time and money to local churches, schools and community groups. The Dreamers are part of our nation’s fabric.”

They belong here.

The comments were echoed by Sundar Pichai of Google.

“Dreamers are our neighbors, our friends and our co-workers,” he tweeted. “Congress needs to act now.” Among the 1,400 retweets also Ev Williams of Medium.

Devin Wenig of eBay called on Congress “to act morally and in the best interest of the American economy by legislating #DACA protections without delay.”

At Salesforce, CEO Marc Benioff took to Twitter yesterday with a simple sentence… And a GIF.

DACA=LOVE. CEOs ❤️ DACA!

Jeff Weiner of Linkedin posted: “Some of the most resilient, gifted & dedicated young people I’ve had the privilege to meet are Dreamers. Repealing the program is wrong on every level.”

Jeff Weiner on LinkedIn: "Some of the most resilient,..._Some of the most resilient, gifted & dedicated young people I've had the privilege to meet are Dreamers. Repealing the…_www.linkedin.com

Jack Dorsey of Twitter stressed on Twitter that “Ending #DACA is a crushing blow to those who want to contribute to our future.”


Written by asandre | Comms + policy. Author of #digitaldiplomacy (2015), Twitter for Diplomats (2013). My views here.
Published by HackerNoon on 2017/09/05