Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg Blast ‘Inhumane’ Trump Immigration Policy
Several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley — including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg — are calling for the Trump administration to end its “zero tolerance” policy at the U.S.-Mexico border that separates undocumented immigrants from their kids.
“We need to stop this policy right now,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Zuckerberg praised organizations like the Texas Civil Rights Project and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), saying they’re doing “great work.” Zuckerberg was one of the thousands to donate to a Facebook page supporting RAICES, which uses the funds for bond payments for undocumented parents, allowing them to reunite with their kids as they wait on the courts.
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Cook was even more adamant in his remarks, calling child separation “inhumane” while in Dublin on Tuesday.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the images and hear the sounds of the kids. Kids are the most vulnerable people in any society,” said Cook, according to The Irish Times. “I think that what’s happening is inhumane. It needs to stop.
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“We’ve always felt everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. In this case, that’s not happening,” added Cook.
A national outcry — exacerbated by images of children in cages at detention centers — has unfolded in the last week over the government’s handling of undocumented immigrants. About 2,000 children were separated from their parents during a six-week span across April and May, according to the Washington Post.
Box CEO Aaron Levie also called the policy “inhumane” in a tweet on Monday. “We cannot let this continue,” tweeted Levie. “We need our government to address immigration in a compassionate and scalable way *now*.”
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The act of separating families at the border is inhumane and un-American. We cannot let this continue. We need our government to address immigration in a compassionate and scalable way *now*.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) June 19, 2018
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki echoed her peers, calling the issue “heartbreaking.” Wojcicki tweeted a link to several organizations dedicated to helping undocumented immigrants.
Regardless of your politics, it's heartbreaking to see what's happening to families at the border. Here are some ways you can help: https://t.co/IFVG6g8AKO
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) June 19, 2018
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“Do everything it takes to #KeepFamiliesTogether,” Twitter chief Jack Dorsey wrote on Tuesday. He followed it up with a tweet saying he’d donated to RAICES.
Do everything it takes to #KeepFamilesTogether.
What are the highest impact ways to help?
— jack (@jack) June 19, 2018
This wasn’t the first time Silicon Valley has been at odds with President Trump over immigration. Several execs, including Cook and Zuckerberg, publicly voiced their displeasure last September over the president’s plan to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
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