On Recode’s “Revolution” TV special scheduled to air Friday night on MSNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook reaffirmed his strong support for DACA — the program that protects undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has deemed the program to be “dead.”
Watch: Tim Cook says DACA shouldn’t have been revoked and that he’s ‘personally offended’ by the situation
It “goes to the core of who we are as Americans.”
Shirin Ghaffary was a senior Vox correspondent covering the social media industry. Previously, Ghaffary worked at BuzzFeed News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and TechCrunch.
When asked by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes about Trump’s restrictive immigration policy, Cook called the issue one that “goes to the core of who we are as Americans.”
Cook has been one of the most outspoken DACA advocates in the business community. Last year, he said that Apple employs 250 DACA recipients — known as Dreamers — and will continue to do so, calling this the “biggest issue of our time.”
In private, he has urged Trump to reconsider and approach DACA with “more heart.” While there have been talks of a deal with Congress over the issue in recent months, if the president’s latest tweets are any indication, that won’t be happening.
Here’s a clip of the exchange. Watch the full hour-long special with Cook, Hayes and Recode co-founder Kara Swisher on Friday, April 6, at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on MSNBC.
And here’s a partial transcript of the discussion:
Cook: I talked to a lot of folks in our company. The DACA situation is one that I am truthfully, as an American, deeply offended by.
(applause)
The DACA situation is not an immigration issue. It’s a moral issue. This is a moral issue ...
(applause)
This is one that goes to the core of who we are as Americans. Who among us would think that it’s the right thing to do to kick somebody out of this country when they came here when they were one, two, three years old, that have only known this country as their home, that know no other country as their home. This just doesn’t make any sense. And so I don’t like that the gun was ever fired here. It should have never been fired ...
Hayes: In terms of revoking.
Cook: It shouldn’t have been done
Hayes: The president should not have revoked it.
Cook: The Attorney General should not have revoked it. Whoever revoked it should not have done this.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
