Apple, Facebook and Google urge Congress to act on Dreamers

A who's who of top leaders at the nation's biggest tech companies want Congress to get its act together and do something about legal status for the group of immigrants known as "dreamers."

"Securing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers not only is the right thing to do, but is a huge economic benefit to the United States," nearly a hundred top CEOs wrote in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Supreme Court in 2020 prevented the Trump administration from overturning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, which provides protections for about 650,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children. Earlier this month, however, a federal judge in Texas ruled that DACA was implemented unconstitutionally.

The ruling prevents new enrollments into DACA but does not suspend the program for existing participants or bar current enrollees from renewing their permits. The White House quickly said it plans to appeal the ruling.

In his decision, however, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen noted that the best solution going forward would be for Congress to pass a new law, and the CEOs urge leadership to do just that.

"The district court's ruling is devastating for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers," the letter reads. "It further throws into chaos the lives of these Dreamers and impedes their ability to legally work and contribute to our country. We strongly urge Congress to pass legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers."

Among the nearly 100 signatories to the letter are the CEOs of nearly every major consumer- and and enterprise-facing tech company, including Alphabet (Google's parent company), Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Facebook, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Verizon and others.

The CEOs of Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Wells Fargo and several other financial and investment firms also signed on, as well as major retailers, hotel firms and trade groups.