Apple CEO Tim Cook Urges U.S. Senate to Pass the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act

[Hastings101]

From an American perspective we should want to be encouraging highly skilled/well-educated immigrants, especially if it gives us a nice "brain drain" situation from competitors like China, India, even Brazil. I guess this isn't PC to say, but let's be real - some immigrants are much more of an asset than others. Not so much a fan of DACA, but this seems alright.

 

[Techwatcher]

What are you talking about, its probably those immigrants that caused the bad OS's.

I have to agree with who you quoted. Those immigrants are most likely equal skilled or better at coding than our folks here crying for 150k+. So yes I can see Catalina becoming worse if a cleanout happened. Just pay the immigrants that same salary.

 

[Glockworkorange]

"Just a few reasons why he'd rather step down than do business with those people."

Stepping down just for you? Only in your dreams.


OTOH...I hope you're not being a hypocrite and purchasing products from companies that manufacture in China. How's your courage been? Setting a good example, I hope.

I am not running around, preaching my values, banning people from speaking and turning emojis around to signal how progressive and moral I am. China can do what it wants---I'm not profiteering off it.

 

[DVD9]

How many apartments for homeless Americans has Apple built?

Every new immigrant across the border is another American on the sidewalk. The numbers don't officially match because the deaths of homeless Americans are not acknowledged.

 

[WaxedJacket]

and our economy more dynamic.

What does that even mean?

Very plainly a plan to brain drain other nations and reduce wages. Shame.

Absolutely, unforeseen consequences are never addressed when passing legislation like this.

 

[DVD9]

From an American perspective we should want to be encouraging highly skilled/well-educated immigrants, especially if it gives us a nice "brain drain" situation from competitors like China, India, even Brazil. I guess this isn't PC to say, but let's be real - some immigrants are much more of an asset than others. Not so much a fan of DACA, but this seems alright.

What you wrote sounds exactly like the opinion of a Goldman Sachs bloodsucker.

 

[BruiserBear]

Can someone explain to me why these people are completely incapable of distinguishing between legal immigrants and illegal aliens?

Do they legitimately not know the difference, or do they just pretend because it would conflict with their agenda?

"Immigrants make this country stronger and our economy more dynamic," I agree Tim. Whole heartedly. My family immgirated here from Italy 90+ years ago. Legally. And then assimilated, and built this country into something amazing.

That's altogether different from the people who's first act of entering the U.S. is a crime. And statistically, not the last either.

You Trump supporters never dig too deep into these issues, and yet you're so quick to chime in like you know what you're talking about.

Trump has drastically reduced LEGAL immigration too, which is affecting businesses looking for workers with certain skills which aren't as easy to find in the U.S because college isn't government funded like it is in other countries.

 

[yakapo]

What a vapid statement. Some immigrants make this country stronger, most don’t. I’m not sure what a ‘dynamic’ economy is and neither is Cook. It is a meaningless phrase.

What really baffles me is how a country with free education and welfare can’t produce enough qualified workers. If Tim can’t get enough qualified workers from Americans then we need to end welfare to better incentify Americans.

My family immigrated here 40 years ago and I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve traveled the world and there are nations that require you to show them that you have money in the bank before they give you a visa. Even if you want to migrate to canada, you need to prove that you will not be a burden to the economy.

 

[simonmet]

Hey Tim, why did you remove the Taiwan flag for users in Hong Kong?

 

[The Cappy]

OTOH, I've known some programmers who were getting hammered because their employers were abusing the visa system to bring in low-cost programmers.

 

[Glockworkorange]

How many apartments for homeless Americans has Apple built?

Every new immigrant across the border is another American on the sidewalk. The numbers don't officially match because the deaths of homeless Americans are not acknowledged.

True! The recent China issue and this issue to a large extent goes to show the dark underbelly of woke capitalism.

The corporations will give you diverse commercials, they will waive rainbow flags and they will wag their fingers at states creating bathroom laws.

But don't you dare get between them and a red blooded cent.
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Hey Tim, why did you remove the Taiwan flag for users in Hong Kong?

Is that true?

 

[yakapo]

for legal immigrants, tax them heavily on any money they send overseas.

It's no surprise... people want $150,000/year minimum anywhere near San Francisco to code. We have folks in India doing it for $24/hour.

$24 an hour? IF Chris Roberts hired all his coders in India, he could get 10 million hours of coding with his quarter billion dollar piggy bank. Not that the game would be finished...

 

[cocky jeremy]

The measure Tim is supporting here is for legal immigrant workers. Who are "these people" in this story that brought up illegal immigrants at all?

"these people" are typically far, far left leaning liberals. they think anyone here should just be allowed to stay, rather they came here legally or not.

 

[gnipgnop]

"Immigrants make this country stronger and our economy more dynamic," I agree Tim. Whole heartedly. My family immgirated here from Italy 90+ years ago. Legally. And then assimilated, and built this country into something amazing.

That's altogether different from the people who's first act of entering the U.S. is a crime. And statistically, not the last either.

Crime? Entering the country without documentation is a civil offense for first time offenders.

Beyond that, the current administration is constantly targeting people who DO want to enter the country LEGALLY. The travel ban targeted people from Middle Eastern countries that had already gone through the legal process of getting documentation. DACA is a legal framework, which means anyone who has fulfilled the requirements to participate is, in fact, legally in the country. There were also groups of refugees who had been granted legal status to live in the U.S. by previous administrations that were kicked out by the current administration...not because they violated laws...but because they had "been here too long". Applying for asylum in the U.S. is a legal procedure, which means the people who do so are following the law. How are those people being treated right now? And finally, this is an administration that has announced deep cuts to LEGAL immigration. Why? It certainly doesn't have anything to do with breaking the law.

 

[benshive]

"these people" are typically far, far left leaning liberals. they think anyone here should just be allowed to stay, rather they came here legally or not.

But why immediately jump into talking about those liberals when it's irrelevant to the story? It seems like a large chunk of the right loves to say how much they don't mind the legal immigrants but immediately get very defensive when laws surrounding those legal immigrants are ever discussed.

 

[ThirteenXIII]

Aside from the immigrant standpoint of this article, its kind of a sham because there are very little opportunities for those currently in the US to move up in this field or gain roles unless you know someone. They can easily pick a cheap programmer from India.

The problem is they dont want to invest in the people here trying to excel or make a career change who are capable of doing it. On top of that Americans have rougher time with outside expenses such mortgages, kids, and other financial obligations, which may be a hindering factor when someone who may have little or no dependency on the same stuff we do or have inherited they dont see it as a problem so until we fix that it think they'll keep harvesting cheap foreign labor.

I work with a huge global assortment of people, a lot from India, some are really great people wether they know a lot or not and some are not that great and others stick to a very strict script so its hard to understand them as person. which is why they probably fall in line better with these roles.

 

[gnipgnop]

It seems like a large chunk of the right loves to say how much they don't mind the legal immigrants but immediately get very defensive when laws surrounding those legal immigrants are ever discussed.

Legal vs. illegal is the smokescreen talking point for conservatives. A big part of what the current administration is doing regarding immigration is trying to dismantle the legal avenues for entering or remaining in the country.

 

[hudson1]

Crime? Entering the country without documentation is a civil offense for first time offenders.

Beyond that, the current administration is constantly targeting people who DO want to enter the country LEGALLY. The travel ban targeted people from Middle Eastern countries that had already gone through the legal process of getting documentation. DACA is a legal framework, which means anyone who has fulfilled the requirements to participate is, in fact, legally in the country. There were also groups of refugees who had been granted legal status to live in the U.S. by previous administrations that were kicked out by the current administration...not because they violated laws...but because they had "been here too long". Applying for asylum in the U.S. is a legal procedure, which means the people who do so are following the law. How are those people being treated right now? And finally, this is an administration that has announced deep cuts to LEGAL immigration. Why? It certainly doesn't have anything to do with breaking the law.

Maybe brush up better on what's really going on?

Those Middle Eastern countries had no reliable means of vetting visa applicants which is standard procedure for all applicants coming from non-visa waiver countries.

The "D" in DACA stands for "deferred", not "legal". They are here as a result of an executive order which allows them to stay in the USA without legal right to stay. The Supreme Court is hearing a case which challenges a president's ability to sign his own executive order which overturns the previous executive order. We'll see if what's good for the goose is also good for the gander. Regardless of how the SCOTUS rules, no one is expecting these now adults to be forced out if they're law abiding.

 

[Smearbrick]

If the immigrants have a legitimate, verifiable skill. I work with a ton of immigrant tech workers who do not have half the skills they claim on their resumes.

Just to be clear, I’m not making a general statement indicating there is no skills to be had from immigrant, but I am saying there is ton of resume padding going on. I think that is somewhat universal, however.

 

[norbinhouston]

Legal vs. illegal is the smokescreen talking point for conservatives. A big part of what the current administration is doing regarding immigration is trying to dismantle the legal avenues for entering or remaining in the country.

Nope. Just not brain washed by the media. Illegals are different from legal immigrants. If you don't know the difference, you are willingly ignoring the facts.

 

[Smearbrick]

Can someone explain to me why these people are completely incapable of distinguishing between legal immigrants and illegal aliens?

Do they legitimately not know the difference, or do they just pretend because it would conflict with their agenda?

"Immigrants make this country stronger and our economy more dynamic," I agree Tim. Whole heartedly. My family immgirated here from Italy 90+ years ago. Legally. And then assimilated, and built this country into something amazing.

That's altogether different from the people who's first act of entering the U.S. is a crime. And statistically, not the last either.

What statistic? You are implying that the majority of people who enter the country illegally continue to commit crime. Please share.

 

[Chaos215bar2]

We don’t have enough talented citizens to fill the necessary positions? I’m asking seriously, not rhetorically. If we don’t, we need to seriously boost STEM programs.

Yes, we need to seriously boost STEM programs as well as the quality of public education in general throughout the US. There is actually an undersupply of highly skilled tech workers in the US (and, from my understanding, this extends to other fields as well).

As a side note to posters here, please, absolutely, question legislation like this. That's a healthy part of the democratic process. But when you start making unsubstantiated claims about immigrants being responsible for X problem (especially in your favorite tech product, of all things), that's veering clearly into the territory of racism and xenophobia, and has no place here.

 

[gnipgnop]

Maybe brush up better on what's really going on?

Those Middle Eastern countries had no reliable means of vetting visa applicants which is standard procedure for all applicants coming from non-visa waiver countries.

The "D" in DACA stands for "deferred", not "legal". They are here as a result of an executive order which allows them to stay in the USA without legal right to stay. The Supreme Court is hearing a case which challenges a president's ability to sign his own executive order which overturns the previous executive order. We'll see if what's good for the goose is also good for the gander. Regardless of how the SCOTUS rules, no one is expecting these now adults to be forced out if they're law abiding.

?? Not sure what you're talking about with the travel ban. People who hold visas have already gone through the standard vetting process at consular posts and that process had already been enhanced following the 9/11 attacks. The administration never provided a specific reason for trying to ban those people other than needing to "review" the security procedures, then later dropped the attempt at banning people who already had visas.

As for DACA, it doesn't actually matter that the 'D' stands for deferred. Deferral is a standard legal power held by the executive branch. It means they're deferring legal enforcement for people who qualify for and participate in DACA, which is itself a legal framework. If they fail to qualify or don't continue to follow the legal rules of DACA, then they're not going to have the legal protection of deferral. Saying that deferral means they're not really legally allowed in the U.S. doesn't make any sense. Like I said, deferral is a standard legal power in the United States.

 

[lartola]

I’ve traveled the world and there are nations that require you to show them that you have money in the bank before they give you a visa.

Yeah, when you travel as a tourist most countries will require you to show them you have the money to cover your expenses, but a tourist is not an immigrant. When you immigrate, the requirements are different. You still have to prove that you will be able to support yourself, but you have several ways other than showing you have money in the bank to prove that (such as a sponsorship from an employer or a relative). Don’t confuse tourists with immigrants because it’s not the same.

 

[cylack]

He just wants cheap foreign labor. He can hire plenty of American citizens but he knows he will have to pay more for their labor.