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On Tuesday, several prominent media executives came out against the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“The Dreamers impacted by this cruel and misguided decision make significant contributions to our economy and our country, and I urge Congress to take immediate bipartisan action to pass legislation that will protect these innocent people,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
Univision and Telemundo, the two most prominent media companies that program to a Spanish-speaking audience, were very quick to bash the decision.
Randy Falco, president and CEO of Univision Communications Inc., said in a statement that he’s “disappointed” by the long-awaited decision, which was announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and includes a six-month delay.
“Let’s be very clear — DREAMers are our students, soldiers, first responders, co-workers, neighbors, and friends,” Falco said. “Here at UCI we will continue to stand by them, including those talented DREAMers working at our company to advance our mission of entertaining, informing, and empowering the Hispanic community and the rising American mainstream we serve. Their stories are unmistakably American. They deserve better than this.”
Telemundo, Univision’s primary rival, said in a statement that the company is “disheartened” by the decision. “Telemundo stands with the 800,000 Dreamers who are integral to the economy, culture and spirit of our nation,” the company said. “In addition to the human impact of this decision, repealing DACA will result in the loss of thousands of jobs in the United States and billions of dollars in economic growth over the next decade.”
Congress has been tasked with finding a legislative solution to the plight of the Dreamers, and both Univision and Telemundo called for DACA — or a program similar to it — to be preserved. “All of our elected representatives should be held accountable toward this end,” Telemundo said.
Laurene Powell Jobs, who is slated to take control of The Atlantic in the next few years, called the decision “a betrayal of both our values and our interests.”
While the media industry was not heavily represented, a few executives signed on last week to an open letter asking the Trump administration to keep DACA.
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