San Francisco, Sep 4 (IANS) Apple CEO Tim Cook became the latest voice against US President Donald Trump’s stance on scrapping Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

Reaffirming his support for the company’s employees on Twitter, Cook became the latest joinee in the group that has raised its voice against the Trump stance.

“250 of my Apple co-workers are #Dreamers. I stand with them. They deserve our respect as equals and a solution rooted in American values,” he tweeted on Sunday.

The DACA programme was established by former US President Barack Obama to shield hundreds of thousands of undocumented youths from deportation.

After reports surfaced that the Trump administration was considering bringing the DACA programme to an end, nearly 300 tech leaders last week signed a letter urging the President to uphold it, The Verge reported.

On Friday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith had criticised the presidential stance.

“We are deeply concerned by news reports about changes to DACA that are under consideration. These changes would not only negatively impact thousands of hardworking people across the US, but will be a step backwards for our entire nation,” Smith said in a blog post.

“Ending DACA will drastically disrupt the lives of these individuals who willingly came forward to register with the federal government. They could lose their jobs and risk deportation,” Smith added.

The Microsoft executive also said that this repeal would also have significant economic consequences and it could cost the American economy $460.3 billion in GDP and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions over the course of a decade.

Smith’s post was followed by Nadella’s comment.

“As I shared at the White House in June, I am a product of two uniquely American attributes: the ingenuity of American technology reaching me where I was growing up, fuelling my dreams, and the enlightened immigration policy that allowed me to pursue my dreams,” Nadella wrote.

He added that there was no question that the priority must be to create more jobs and opportunity for every American citizen.

“On top of this, smart immigration can help our economic growth and global competitiveness,” Nadella posted.

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan also urged Trump not to scrap the Obama-era programme that protects young undocumented immigrants.

The White House said Trump will announce his decision on Tuesday. Ryan has urged the President to allow Congress to “work” on the issue.

–IANS
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