Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I Will Fight Until My Toes Point Up' for DACA

[MacRumors]

Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this week sat down for an interview with ABC News after his visit to Texas with President Donald Trump, and today, ABC News has shared additional details from that interview.

Cook said that his focus is on policy over politics, and that he's focused on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which both Cook and Apple have been advocating for.

"No matter who is in the White House, the things I'm focused on are going to be the same. I am focused on DACA. We have 450 folks in Apple, employed at Apple, who are employed on DACA. I want those folks protected. Not just the 450 but the broader DACA people in America."

Cook in October signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold DACA and protect dreamers in the United States. Cook in the interview said that he's going to continue to fight against the Trump Administration's efforts to rescind DACA.

"I will fight until my toes point up on the subject because I think that it is so core to who we are as a people that we not turn our back on people that came into the country as kids, they were brought here well before they could make a decision on their own. These people are the core of what an American is."

Cook also spoke on privacy, and reiterated comments that he's made many times before. Apple, said Cook, does not want to know personal details about your life and is not trying to "vacuum up all your data."

Cook went on to say that he's "very worried" that in a world where "nothing is private," then freedom of expression, a classic part of what it means to be American, "just evaporates."

On the topic of breaking up tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, Cook said that he thinks there's too much focus on "fines and breakups" and not about how tech companies are collecting and using data that customers did not make an informed decision to give access to.

Cook's full interview can be read on ABC News, and his commentary from the other part of the interview can be read in our first article.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I Will Fight Until My Toes Point Up' for DACA

 

[AustinIllini]

Awesome. Tim is on the money with this.

 

[HiVolt]

I wish you'd fight as hard to ensure your company releases bug free operating system for your biggest money maker.

But yeah, fight your social justice battles, nobody's gonna remember you after you're done at Apple.

 

[jimothyGator]

If DACA is a good idea, Congress should pass legislation. You do not want a president making such policy, because even if you don’t care about the Constitution or separation of powers, someday, there will be a president in office that you don’t like. For some, that was Obama. For others, it’s Trump. Do you want the executive order of a president you don’t like to become law forever?

 

[cardfan]

Of course he will. Cheap labor.

 

[Agit21]

There he is again - woke Tim Apple.

 

[eatrains]

Go Tim. Proud to have him leading Apple.

 

[racer1441]

But roll over and let China rub your belly. Shut up and fix the bugs in your new OS releases!

 

[BootsWalking]

Tim fights for anything as long as it doesn't have a financial impact on Apple #brave

 

[DaveOP]

I wish you'd fight as hard to ensure your company releases bug free operating system for your biggest money maker.

But yeah, fight your social justice battles, nobody's gonna remember you after you're done at Apple.

Steve made all sorts of bad decisions, created terrible services and some bad products, and people still remember him. Tim Cook will be remembered long after he dies, as most famous people are. Tim has done far more to better the world we all live in than Steve ever did.

 

[jimbobb24]

Ok Boomer.

 

[miniyou64]

Totally against illegal immigration but I’m not sure people should be punished for something out of their control. It’s not right they get a free pass either, but it is what it is.

 

[AppleFan91]

He says stuff like this and it comes off so genuine.

But then like 2 days ago, he stands next to a man that is completely at odds with all of his supposedly important core beliefs.

I get the argument that one side is personal and the other is business. But TO ME, it makes his statements in the article seem hollow.

 

[ActionableMango]

I wish you'd fight as hard to ensure your company releases bug free operating system for your biggest money maker.

450 Apple employees losing their jobs isn't going to help Apple fix bugs faster.

 

[SDJim]

On the topic of breaking up tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, Cook said that he thinks there's too much focus on "fines and breakups" and not about how tech companies are collecting and using data that customers did not make an informed decision to give access to.

Most valuable statement in that interview. Totally agree.

 

[AustinIllini]

Tim fights for anything as long as it doesn't have a financial impact on Apple #brave

He fights to protect his company. Anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I'm not opposed to DACA because I really don't know what the right answer is.

But I do get confused about saying DACA specifically is what you believe in until your toes turn up when it's not a general guiding principle for how we treat immigrants or even asylum seekers but applies to a very specific group of people. You had to have come to the age 16 and under and the year 2007 or earlier. I'm not saying those people don't deserve legal status. I just try to put my self in the shoes of someone who has very similar circumstances but doesn't meet those qualifications. And then try to understand why someone says they would fight for this particular legislation to the death. What is the answer for everyone else? I wrote to Obama (whom I voted for twice) when they were deporting immigrants (many refugees) back to Central America. Some of them though that DACA applied to them, which it didn't.

I don't know the answer; I really don't.

I think once the US makes a promise to people as it did with DACA, it must uphold that promise. But it's so specific, and maybe there is something I don't know about it, but it seems somewhat arbitrary in who counts and who doesn't.

 

[dannyyankou]

Of course he will. Cheap labor.

Actually just the opposite. Under DACA, you have work authorization and need to be paid minimum wage. Once you lose that status, companies will try to pay below minimum wage behind closed doors.

 

[5105973]

Shouldn’t Congress be addressing this? I thought that was why Trump was making moves on this, to get our elected representatives to wake up and address this once and for all. I could be mistaken, as it’s been a long time since I read up in this but I thought DACA was just a band aid and that we always needed a more permanent solution.

It’s all been a little bit confusing, because during my lifetime, there has been way too much reliance on things like Executive orders that could be rolled back at any time or legislating from the bench, instead of solid legislating by our actual legislative branch. We now see we’ve built too much that we’ve come to rely on, upon a foundation of shifting sand.

I’m fine with Tim Cook advocating for these people, since they’re part of his workforce, but I hope he’s helping to push for something that’s going to stand up past this presidency.

 

[bigandtasty]

A celebration is in order. We need a new multicolored watchband to mark the occasion! Way to go Woke Tim!

 

[BootsWalking]

He fights to protect his company. Anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand.

Fighting to protect his company is what a CEO is expected to do. Carefully choosing to only fight social/political battles that don't financially impact your company to appear as righteous makes him an insufferable hypocrite.

 

[benshive]

He fights to protect his company. Anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand.

It's funny, to the complainers Tim simultaneously only cares about what helps Apple succeed and doesn't give a crap about Apple. It's less about the substance and more about how much they love complaining

 

[mdnz]

Steve made all sorts of bad decisions, created terrible services and some bad products, and people still remember him. Tim Cook will be remembered long after he dies, as most famous people are. Tim has done far more to better the world we all live in than Steve ever did.

Not trolling but can you give us some examples in how he made the world better?

 

[dan110]

This is a manufactured wedge issue that Congress is using to energize certain voting blocs.

All Congress has to do

1. Update immigration program to be pro-America in the sense that we take in people and fast track those immigrants that actually benefit the US. For example, Indian computer science engineers ... that we don't want to go back overseas after studying at Stanford, MIT, etc. Stop making them wait an entire decade or more to get their citizenship!
2. Grant a temporary amnesty to those that came here illegally. Make them pay a fine and go through a ten-year process to get legal citizenship. If they fail, deport. You don't want everyone to stay here that won't be productive citizens. .
3. [Corrected] Grant amnesty to children that were not born in the US. Preferably to parents that have applied for temporary amnesty.
4. Build the wall to strengthen the newly updated immigration program from step 1.

 

[benshive]

Fighting to protect his company is what a CEO is expected to do. Carefully choosing to only fight social/political battles that don't financially impact your company to appear as righteous makes him an insufferable hypocrite.

As is mentioned in the article, 450 Apple employees are DACA recipients. How is DACA being threatened not something that would financially impact the company?