Tech Firms Standing Up Against Travel Ban

Photo: a katz / Shutterstock, Inc

The legal battle against President Trump’s travel ban executive order was quickly joined by a number of technology firms in the United States. Microsoft, Apple, and Google led the charge, but they were joined by Tesla, SpaceX, Facebook, Twitter, Intel, eBay, Netflix, and Uber, with Levi Strauss & Co, and Chobani joining them from the non-tech side.

In all, 127 companies have signed on to the “friend of the court” brief, throwing their support behind the federal court ruling that suspended the travel ban.

The companies are arguing that the travel ban will undermine one of Trump’s stated policy goals: bringing jobs back to America. They note that the tech industry, which is a very large part of the American economy these days, hires a lot of talented immigrants, pointing out that oft-mentioned fact that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, and that 200 of the companies on the Forbes Top 500 list were founded by immigrants.

But they also note that the travel ban, which was only intended to last for 90 days, would cause much longer-term harm. The ban sets a precedent for immigrants to look to other nations where their immigration status may not be suddenly revoked. Further, it would give multinational firms increased emphasis to focus on their work in other countries, where they wouldn’t have to worry about their employees suddenly being deported.

All of this adds fuel to the legal argument that the president doesn’t have to power to institute such a ban, which the White House insists he does, claiming that he can prevent foreigners deemed dangerous from entering. But in fighting the suspension, which was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the government hasn’t put forth any evidence that the nations subjected to the travel ban have ever posed a threat.

So far, the ban isn’t standing on credible legal ground, but that may change.

The Department of Justice filed paperwork on February 13 indicating that they are not planning to pursue a reversal of the decision through the district court system at this time. But the battle isn’t over yet. President Trump’s lawyers disclosed on the same day that they are going to request an “en banc” hearing, in which 11 of the 25 active judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will vote on whether the court should reconsider its decision.

“Further proceedings in the Ninth Circuit will likely inform what additional proceedings on a preliminary injunction motion are necessary in district court,” the Department of Justice wrote in its papers, which were filed in federal court in Seattle.

Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota (the states that originally sued to block Trump’s immigration ban order) also filed legal papers asking for the case to continue so the court can decide on whether the travel ban is constitutional or not.