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Apple CEO Tim Cook.
- The Trump administration has implemented a new "zero-tolerance" policy that has separated migrant children from their parents when crossing the U.S. border.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook is the latest business leader to slam the policy, calling it "inhumane" and that "it needs to stop."
The Trump administration has implemented a new "zero-tolerance" policy that has resulted in migrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S. border, drawing outrage and criticism from politicians and Americans.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is the latest business leader to vocally condemn the policy change, specifically referencing an audio recording published by ProPublica that depicts children crying out for their mothers and fathers.
"It's heartbreaking to see the images and hear the sounds of the kids. Kids are the most vulnerable people in any society. I think that what's happening is inhumane, it needs to stop," Cook said to the Irish Times. The Apple CEO is in Ireland to open a new office.
Cook has had an open line of communication with the Trump administration as well as other controversial world leaders. He's frequently argued that he and Apple can change policy by staying involved.
"I'm personally a big believer in the way to be a good citizen is to participate, is to try to advocate your point of view, not to just sit on the sideline and yell or complain," he said to the Irish Times.
"That will be the approach we will take here. This one in particular is just heartbreaking and tragic."
Ross D. Franklin/AP
Hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center
Cook and Trump
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Tim Cook talks to Donald Trump at a tech roundtable last year.
The Apple CEO has been in contact with the Trump administration since President Trump was elected. Apple and Cook have strived to change Trump's mind on several social issues.
Cook said in a recent interview that he pushed the president to find a resolution for immigrants who were brought to the United States as children but do not have the proper documentation, a group of people who were previously protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Cook has also publicly disagreed with Trump over the administration's decision to pull out of the Paris climate accords, and said he spoke with Trump about the issue and tried to persuade him to his side.
Last month, Cook spoke to Trump about the administration's tough talk about tariffs and Apple's opposition to them.
He was told that the administration did not plan to place tariffs on iPhones, which is Apple's most important product. Apple has also not corrected Trump when he has said that the company plans to build factories in the United States, according to The New York Times. Apple has a more direct line into the Trump administration than it had in previous administrations, according to the report.