Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft Contest Trump’s Travel Ban

About 100 US technology companies have filed a legal brief opposing President Trump’s ban on migration from seven Muslim-majority countries, arguing that it imposes significant burdens on the industry by preventing it from hiring talented migrants.

Among the companies signing the filing, an amicus brief supporting Washington state’s lawsuit against Trump’s order are Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, as well as smaller firms such as Intel, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Uber, Paypal, Snap, Spotify, Reddit, Netflix and Dropbox.

The brief states that Trump’s order introduced “sudden changes without notice, unclear standards for implementation, and no standards for the exercise of waiver authority”, depriving companies and employees of the certainty they need.

“This instability and uncertainty will make it far more difficult and expensive for US companies to hire some of the world’s best talent, and impede them from competing in the global marketplace,” it says.

“Businesses and employees have little incentive to go through the laborious process of sponsoring or obtaining a visa, and relocating to the United States, if an employee may be unexpectedly halted at the border.

“Skilled individuals will not wish to immigrate to the country if they may be cut off without warning from their spouses, grandparents, relatives, and friends. They will not pull up roots, incur significant economic risk, and subject their family to considerable uncertainty to immigrate to the United States in the face of this instability.”

Trump has received a lot of backlashes after he temporarily blocked immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, temporarily suspended all refugee admissions and blocked refugees from Syria from entering the U.S. indefinitely.