Microsoft this week joined an ever-growing list of tech companies speaking out in defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. President Trump is expected to end the Obama initiative on Tuesday, according to Fox News, and announce the US government will allow current work authorizations to expire before deportations begin.
The company released an official blog post by President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith, who says:
Today we know of 27 employees who are beneficiaries of DACA. They are software engineers with top technical skills; finance professionals driving our business ambitions forward; and retail and sales associates connecting customers to our technologies. Each of them is actively participating in our collective mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. They are not only our colleagues, but our friends, our neighbors and valued members of the Microsoft community.
Microsoft isn’t the only company speaking out in defense of people living in America under DACA. Over 500 tech leaders signed an open letter to the government, citing these facts:
All DACA recipients grew up in America, registered with our government, submitted to extensive background checks, and are diligently giving back to our communities and paying income taxes. More than 97 percent are in school or in the workforce, 5 percent started their own business, 65 percent have purchased a vehicle, and 16 percent have purchased their first home. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees.
This letter is signed by the leaders of hundreds of tech companies including Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and of course Microsoft. In fact the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, took to LinkedIn in a post that further states its position:
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.
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It would be impossible to imagine the tech industry without DREAMers. We will be a worse nation — from Silicon Valley to Capitol Hill — without them.
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