Dozens of American business leaders are challenging the Trump administration over changes to immigration policy that they say threaten the livelihoods of thousands of their skilled foreign workers, and the nation’s economic growth and competitiveness as well. The executives, members of the Business Roundtable, expressed their “serious concern” over the administration’s immigration moves in a jointly signed letter delivered late Wednesday to Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security. Some of the most prominent chief executives in the United States signed the letter, including Timothy D. Cook of Apple, Ginni Rometty of IBM, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Laurence Fink of BlackRock, Marc Benioff of Salesforce and Indra Nooyi, the departing head of PepsiCo. The letter comes during a week when the broader debate over the country’s immigration policies has been reignited by the arrest of a Mexican laborer in the killing of an Iowa woman. It also underscores the continuing tension between America’s globally minded corporate establishment and the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.

Source: New York Times August 23, 2018 16:00 UTC