What you need to know

  • Tim Cook has tweeted in support of Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.
  • Cook urged the Senate to "move quickly" to pass the bill.
  • Says that workers involved are "critical to America's future".

Apple CEO Tim Cook has tweeted in support of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. In a tweet posted yesterday Cook said:

According to congress.gov, the bill is an act "To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes."

Tim Cook has previously gained plaudits for being outspoken on several key political issues including immigration and the environment, often expressing views contrary to that of the current administration. More surprisingly, Cook has done this whilst seemingly maintaining the favor, and the ear, of President Donald Trump.

This latest bill directly affects Apple. As CNBC notes:

The support for the stalled legislation is both a sign of Cook's personal interest in immigration policy as well as Apple's interest in making immigration easier for many of its employees who live in California but often face challenges obtaining a green card... "We have over 300 folks here on DACA, and we have several people that are on H-1Bs (visas) that might be deep in the green-card backlog," Cook said in a speech last summer.

The bill was passed by the House in September by a vote of 365-65, but is yet to be scheduled for a vote in the Senate.