Thousands of American leaders from faith and advocacy groups, all levels of elected government, judges, police chiefs, and sheriffs earlier this week signed a letter in support of DACA and Dreamers.
Last night, they were joined by hundreds of major business leaders who asked Donald Trump to preserve DACA and Congress to pass the Dream Act.
Signers included Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai, HP’s Meg Whitman, and many more. The full letter and list of signatories can be found here, and the signers pointed out that Dreamers are vital to the economy and contribute to America’s competitive advantage.
As the letter reads:
As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we are concerned about new developments in immigration policy that threaten the future of young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children.
A recent report from the Center of American Progress revealed that rescinding DACA would cost the US economy $460 billion over the next ten years, and that least 72% of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees. Furthermore, a Cato Institute report found that DACA’s elimination — which would lead to Dreamers losing the ability to legally work — would cost employers $6.3 billion in employee turnover as they scrambled to recruit, hire, and train hundreds of thousands of new employees. If DACA is rescinded, around 1,000 Dreamers would lose DACA status every day, costing employers $61 million weekly — the estimated equivalent of 31 “major” regulations.
Some of the signers of last night’s letter posted more personal notes on their social media profiles. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wrote:
I stand with the Dreamers — the young people brought to our country by their parents. Many have lived here as long as they can remember.
We need a government that protects Dreamers. These young people represent the future of our country and our economy. They are our friends and family, students and young leaders in our communities.
And from Microsoft’s Satya Nadella:
As a CEO, I see each day the direct contributions that talented employees from around the world bring to our company, our customers and to the broader economy. We care deeply about the DREAMers who work at Microsoft and fully support them. We will always stand for diversity and economic opportunity for everyone. It is core to who we are at Microsoft and I believe it is core to what America is.
