Tech Giants Join Protest Against Trump Administration’s Immigration Related Executive Order

By Jose Andres | Jan 31, 2017 08:19 AM EST

President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order that bans all immigrants from seven countries whose population are mostly Muslim for 90 days. Immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia are banned from entering the United States, even if they have previously been to the U.S. or have been approved for a Visa prior to the EO.

Sudanese doctor Suha Abushamma left the U.S. to visit her family in Saudi Arabia, and though she had two more weeks planned for her trip, she decided to cut it short. This was because of the fear that she would no longer be allowed to enter the country once the EO was signed. Though she immediately got a new Visa and changed her flight, Dr. Abushamma was not able to beat the clock as she was turned away by U.S. immigrations.

Though she came from Saudi Arabia, which is not included in the EO's list of countries, her passport is from Sudan. Dr. Abushamma was forced to either withdraw her Visa or have herself deported so she did the latter and boarded a plane back to Saudi Arabia. The complete story of this incident can be found on Propublica.

This is just one of the many cases of immigrants being denied entry into the U.S., which has caused an outrage amongst many U.S. citizens as made evident by the multiple protest held around the country. In Washington D.C., large tech companies have joined the State Government's fight against this immigration ban. Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia have all issued a statement in support of the law suit.

According to the report of Reuters, a spokesperson from Amazon said that "the company is providing information about the effect of the order in order to 'be supportive'." Also, in an email sent by Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, he says that the "executive order is one we do not support," and adds "to our employees in the U.S. and around the world who may be directly affected by this order, I want you to know that the full extent of Amazon's resources are behind you."

Other companies and CEOs have already expressed their opposition of the EO but only Amazon, Microsoft, and Expedia are in a position to legally support the Washington State Government as they are all based in the Seattle area in Washington. However, more lawsuits would most likely be issued from other states, backed by many other companies against the immigration ban.

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