IMMIGRATION

The Dream Is Alive

Yesterday, the Supreme Court smacked down a yearslong effort by the Trump administration to ditch the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. 

• Former President Obama started DACA in 2012. It protects about 700,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, and allows them to work in the U.S. legally. 

Scrapping DACA was one of President Trump’s campaign promises during the 2016 election. In September 2017, his DOJ announced plans to follow through, claiming that President Obama overreached when he created the program. 

The smackdown: Was really more of a shove. In a 5–4 decision, the justices upheld the position of lower courts that the administration’s reasoning for canceling the program didn’t pass the smell test. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that terminating DACA wasn’t necessarily unconstitutional, but the Trump administration’s approach was flawed. 

The president didn't take it well. In a tweet, Trump called the decision “horrible & politically charged” and announced he would release a list of potential new justices by Sept. 1. 

• Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden praised the ruling and pledged to make DACA permanent if elected. 

The biz community also approved 

Microsoft has been one of the primary voices in favor of DACA and even took part in the Supreme Court case as a plaintiff. President Brad Smith tweeted that the ruling was “a victory for the country.” 

Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted he would “keep fighting until DACA’s protections are permanent,” noting that Apple has 478 Dreamers on staff. Thomas Donohue, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, called it “the right decision today for Dreamers, our economy, and our country.” 

Bottom line: Although it can be a lightning rod in Washington, most voters support DACA.

HOLIDAY

Corporations Join in on Juneteenth Celebrations

155 years ago today in Galveston, TX, Major General Gordon Granger announced that all slaves were to be set free under federal orders. In the years since, Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June + 19th) has become an annual celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. 

Now, fueled by recent protests against racial injustice, a day that’s historically been celebrated through family gatherings and community events has caught the eye of major corporations. 

• Nike, Uber, Twitter, Spotify, and Target have made Juneteenth a paid holiday. 
• Amazon and Google encouraged employees to cancel meetings. 
• Capital One and JPMorgan will close branches early. Bank of America and Citigroup encouraged workers to use a personal day. 

Paid holidays do incur costs for employers—an average of 77 cents per employee hour worked. Some companies are debating replacing Columbus Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Juneteenth. 

• According to 2018 government estimates, MLK Day is offered as a paid holiday for 24% of private industry workers. 

Big picture: Calls are growing for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday. But to close stock exchanges, a presidential declaration or act of Congress is needed.

AUTO

Ford Wants You to Socially Distance From the Steering Wheel

Yesterday, Ford gave us a peek under the hood of its new driver-assist technology, Active Drive Assist.

What it does: Active Drive Assist can control a vehicle's steering, braking, and speed. But there’s a driver monitoring system that ensures you’re only somewhat distracted solving the Friday Puzzle. The tech also only works on 100,000 miles of divided highways that Ford’s mapped across the U.S. and Canada. 

Active Drive Assist will be available in the second half of 2021, starting with the electric Mustang Mach​-​E SUV.

Can Ford catch up?

Advanced driver-assist systems from GM (Super Cruise) and Tesla (Autopilot) have a big head start, but objects in Elon's mirror are closer than they appear.

For one, Ford has the U.S.’ bestselling vehicle in its back pocket. The carmaker is debuting a redesigned F-150 next week...another potential candidate for Active Drive Assist. It’s also revealing the new Bronco, an off-road Jeep competitor, in July and an all-electric F-150 in 2022. 

Zoom out: With a growing debt load and a painful 2018 restructuring, Ford needs a W on its new truck.

FROM THE CREW

Treat Your Ears

On our podcast, Business Casual, host Kinsey Grant asks the biggest names in business the biggest questions in business. We know that’s a...big ask, but Business Casual guests deliver. Here are some recent episodes worth checking out:

• Diversity: Medley founder Edith Cooper’s candor and wisdom will push you to think differently and ask more questions about diversity in the workplace.
• Restaurants: In this two-part series, restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson pictures a world without restaurants while Sweetgreen's Nicolas Jammet and Chef JJ Johnson explain the changes they expect in a post-COVID-19 world.
• Drugs: Imagine your doctor telling you, “Take a magic mushroom and call me in the morning.” Rick Doblin dives deep on the uses of psychedelics and marijuana in clinical settings.
• Hiring: If "48 minutes of pure value and crucial insights" sounds like something you would be interested in, check out our chat with LinkedIn’s Chief Economist, Karin Kimbrough. Kimbrough examines U.S. unemployment and tells us what needs to happen to get the economy back on its feet.

Got an idea for a future episode? Want to hear what Mark Cuban is like off the record? Take it up with Kinsey on Twitter.

GAMING

Escape Reality by Entering a Pandemic

At midnight ET, the videogame The Last of Us Part 2 was released for Sony's PlayStation 4. It’s studio Naughty Dog’s hyped follow-up to 2013’s The Last of Us, and the characters are...in a pandemic. 

• But the disease is a brain fungus, so don’t worry, not creepy at all. 

Critics are saying: It’s horrific, in the best way possible. NPR describes it as “a game that punches you in the gut right from the start, and never stops punching.” But that’s not a bad thing; reviewers gushed about the game’s visuals, set pieces, and sophisticated storytelling. 

• The sequel also features a gaming milestone: a realistic kiss scene. 

If that sounds more like a TV show than a videogame to you, you might have a future in showbiz. HBO is developing a The Last of Us series from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and the game’s creative director, Neil Druckmann. 

QUIZ

Better Quiz Saul

Readers who take our news quiz say it makes them feel accomplished to know they actually internalized information from reading the Brew each week. You too can capture that feeling. . 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Facebook took down some Trump campaign ads for violating its policies against hate group imagery.
• Carnival posted a worse-than-expected $4.4 billion loss in Q2.
• The U.K. made a U-turn and decided to use Apple/Google’s tech as the platform for its coronavirus contact tracing app.
• Hard Knocks will feature the LA duo of the Chargers and the Rams this upcoming NFL season.

SPONSORED BY CARIUMA

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BREW'S BETS

Math can be fun: This website, which calls itself the “textbook of the future,” has lots of fun/interactive math tools to play around with. No, our algebra teacher did not hijack our laptops and write this.

Here’s how you can celebrate…

• Juneteenth: Attend a virtual party, put on your mask and head to an IRL celebration near you (options for LA or NYC), and learn more by listening to Slate's What Next or NYT’s 1619 pod. HBO's Watchmen is also free all weekend, plus you can now watch Ava DuVernay's acclaimed When They See Us and 13th on Netflix, no subscription required. 
• Pride: View event livestreams or check out online exhibits, join Animal Crossing’s adorable festival, run a 5k (virtually of course), or dye your hair for fun.

FRIDAY PUZZLE

Pay attention to the instructions: Think of four common six-letter words that have the following properties:

1. They all end in the same five letters, in the same order.
2. The first letters of these four words are consecutive consonants in the alphabet (like B, C, D, F).

What are the words?

FRIDAY PUZZLE ANSWER

There are two acceptable answers: 1) lotion, motion, notion, potion and 2) browns, crowns, drowns, and frowns 

(Via NPR)