Dive Brief:
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Almost 100 technology companies — including eBay, PayPal, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Dropbox and Github — joined a legal brief Sunday opposing President Trump's immigration ban.
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The companies say the ban would be harmful to American businesses. "It hinders the ability of American companies to attract great talent; increases costs imposed on business; makes it more difficult for American firms to compete in the international marketplace; and gives global enterprises a new, significant incentive to build operations — and hire new employees — outside the United States," the brief reads.
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The group of 97 tech companies are asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block the Trump administration from reinstating a travel ban on people from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The Department of Homeland Security suspended the travel ban on Sunday, but the Department of Justice is now working to reinstate it. The Appeals Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday.
Dive Insight:
The brief comes as a next step for a tech community that has butted heads with the Trump administration from the beginning and was quick to lambaste the executive order on immigration.
The tech industry also heavily relies on foreign talent, and is the number one user of the H-1B visas that allow foreign workers to come to the U.S. (another program under close examination by the Trump administration).
Tech companies therefore have a financial stake in ensuring such bans are not enforced, so in addition to other reasons they may want to stand against the ban, tech companies have expressed concern about access to talent and their future ability to compete globally.
