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Starbucks has now joined other prominent companies, including Apple and Microsoft, in decrying Trump’s decision to end Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The coffee giant has jumped to the defense of the people DACA was designed to defend, the Dreamers — who were brought to this country as children by undocumented immigrants. In a memo issued on September 6th, Starbucks promised to “continue to build on our culture of inclusion as we seek to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
One of our core values at Starbucks is to create a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome. That is one of the reasons why we have long supported both our DACA partners and all Dreamers. Earlier this year, Howard wrote a letter on this matter to U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Durbin in support of their bipartisan “Dream Act.” Starbucks will continue to stand with the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers impacted by yesterday’s announcement, including those we are proud to call Starbucks partners. These young people are in America through no fault of their own. They are contributing to their community and to the economy – this is their home.
To that end, Starbucks will keep its policy of reimbursing Dreamers for their DACA fees, and is offering counsel on how to navigate renewal requests by the October 5, 2017 deadline. They also “encourage bi-partisan support in Congress to find a solution” and are vocally supporting the lawsuit filed by the State of Washington and over a dozen other attorneys general against President Trump’s decision to rescind DACA.
Starbucks took a similarly strong stance when Trump tried to roll out his Muslim travel ban earlier this year. At that time, Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz wrote “We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question.”
Then, Starbucks came out in strong support of not only DACA, but in favor of hiring refugees, against the Mexican border wall, and for the Affordable Care Act. That was just nine months ago. This week, Microsoft made a similar pledge to defend its 39 Dreamer employees in court and “exercise its legal rights properly to help protect our employees.” Starbucks is estimated to have 84 Dreamer partners in 18 different states—and those are just the ones Starbucks is aware of and have participated in its programing for immigrants.
From coffee to computers to courtrooms, one thing is clear: The DACA fight is just warming up.
(Via: Eater)