Apple CEO Tim Cook has doubled down on his objection to repealing DACA, an immigration policy which temporarily protects certain young, otherwise undocumented immigrants from deportation.
"The DACA situation is one that I am truthfully, as an American, deeply offended by," Cook says, according to an excerpt of an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Recode's Kara Swisher set to air Friday, April 6.
"The DACA situation is not an immigration issue. It's a moral issue. This is a moral issue," Cook says.
DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, gives legal status to children who immigrated to the United States before they were 16 and are accepted to the program, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website. President Donald Trump rescinded DACA on Sept. 5, 2017, but as of February, DACA was forced by federal court order to re-open cases for renewals. As the DACA cancellation became mired in federal courts, the Washington Post reported in March that Trump may be open to a short-term deal on DACA in exchange for movement on his effort to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. However, on Monday, Trump tweeted "DACA is dead."
As the future of DACA continues to be negotiated, Apple executive Cook came down hard in favor of protecting so-called "dreamers."
"This is one that goes to the core of who we are as Americans," he says.
"Who among us would think that it's the right thing to do to kick somebody out of this country when they came here when they were 1, 2, 3 years old, that have only known this country as their home, that know no other country as their home.
"This just doesn't make any sense," says Cook.
DACA should never have been revoked, says Cook.
This was not the first time Cook stood up for DACA. In early September, he tweeted his support for the 250 Apple employees who are "dreamers."
The same month, in an interview at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, Cook said the United States ought to be doing everything it can to keep smart people here, including DACA participants.
"If I were a world leader, my goal would be to monopolize the world's talent," Cook said. "Smart people create jobs. ... I'd have a very aggressive plan, not to just let a few people in, but I'd be recruiting."
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