A legal brief has been filed by almost 100 tech companies in US which stands to oppose President Trump's migration ban from seven Muslim-majority countries. The legal brief argues that the ban imposes sizeable burdens on the industry by hindering it from hiring talented migrant individuals.
In support of the Washington state lawsuit against President Trump's order are leading tech companies Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple. Smaller firms such as Uber, Dropbox, Netflix and Reddit are also some of the companies signing the filing. It is worthy to mention that Amazon was notably absent despite having previously pledged to support the lawsuit, reports The Guardian.
Tesla as well as SpaceX, both of which are companies owned by Elon Musk, Trump's advisory council member, were also absent. A spokesperson of Amazon vouched for the company stating that the Washington attorney general advised it to stay out of the amicus brief, due to the company acting as witness in the original lawsuit.
The brief states that the ban damages economic growth as well as innovation. It also argues that the competitiveness of American companies is at stake due to the executive order alongside it being entirely unlawful.
The argument continues that the beneficiaries of the general pro-migration attitude of the US "are not just the new immigrants who chose to come to our shores, but American businesses, workers, and consumers, who gain immense advantages from immigrants' infusion of talents, energy, and opportunity".
The brief additionally claims that the executive order will only serve to "incentivize both immigration to and investment in foreign countries rather than the United States". From a legal standpoint, the brief argues two primary points which list the order as unlawful.
The first point is the fact that exercises arbitrary discretion with the second being that it discriminates solely on the basis of nationality. The companies argues that "ultimately, American workers and the economy will suffer as a result" as reported by Reuters.
Currently in the ninth circuit court of appeals, the lawsuit is being heard in a federal court in San Francisco. In the case that the court rules the ban as illegal, the possibility remains that the administration will appeals continuously, taking the matter all the way to the US Supreme Court.
