Dreamers and immigration reform activists mobilized this week amid reports that President Trump will rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).
In an open letter to Trump, leaders at major tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber and Lyft expressed solidarity with Dreamers and DACA, which has allowed nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation and apply for work authorization.
The open letter is being circulated by FWD.us, an organization co-founded by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg that works to mobilize tech companies in support of immigration reform. The letter has been signed Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Uber CTO Thuan Pham and Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green.
“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,” the letter reads.
“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,” the letter continues.
The tech leaders also urged Trump to preserve DACA for the sake of the economy. The Center of American Progress estimates that ending the program would cost the U.S. $433.4 billion in GDP.
