Reuters
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook discusses Apple plans to build a $1.375 billion data center in Waukee, Iowa, at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa August 24, 2017.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook and Koch Industries' CEO Charles Koch teamed up to write an editorial published in The Washington Post.
- In the op-ed, they call for Congress to pass legislation so that so-called "dreamer" immigrants can stay in the United States.
- President Trump plans to remove protections for dreamers on March 5.
Apple and Koch Industries don't seem to have a lot in common: one is public, the other is private and closely held by the Koch family. Apple sells premium phones and laptops. Koch Industries has holdings in lots of industries, particularly in the energy sector.
But the CEOs of the two companies have teamed up to write an op-ed for The Washington Post published on Thursday that expresses support for "DREAMERS," or immigrants who came to this country when they were very young but who lack a permanent legal status.
"The United States should not hold hard-working, patriotic people hostage to the debate over immigration - or, worse, expel them because we have yet to resolve a complex national argument," Apple CEO Tim Cook and Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch wrote in the jointly-authored piece.
Currently, just under 700,000 Dreamers are protected by a Barack Obama-era program called DACA, which President Trump plans to end on March 5.
"Congress should act quickly, ideally before year's end, to ensure that these decent people can work and stay and dream in the United States," the CEOs wrote.
Cook previously said that Apple employs 250 dreamers in an email to company staff. "I want to assure you that Apple will work with members of Congress from both parties to advocate for a legislative solution that provides permanent protections for all the Dreamers in our country," he said in the September email.