97 Tech Companies Including Twitter, Netflix File Legal Brief Condemning Trump’s Immigration Order
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Feb 6, 2017
The onslaught targeting President Trump’s immigration executive order continued overnight, when virtually all US tech corporations, from Apple to Zynga, including Twitter, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft, banded together late on Sunday to file an “impassioned” brief condemning Trump’s temporary immigration ban, arguing that it “inflicts significant harm on American business.”
The amicus brief emphasizes the importance of immigrants in the economy and society. The companies originally planned to file the brief later this coming week, but accelerated efforts over the weekend after other legal challenges to the order. Participating companies in the brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, include Airbnb, eBay, Facebook, Google, Intel, Netflix, Snap and Uber. Companies beyond technology signed on as well, including Levi Strauss & Co. and yogurt maker Chobani LLC. In all, some 97 firms signed onto the brief.
“Immigrants make many of the Nation’s greatest discoveries, and create some of the country’s most innovative and iconic companies,” the brief states. “America has long recognized the importance of protecting ourselves against those who would do us harm. But it has done so while maintaining our fundamental commitment to welcoming immigrants—through increased background checks and other controls on people seeking to enter our country.”
Following a dramatic weekend, in which a Washington judged blocked Trump’s travel ban nationwide, and the subsequent DOJ complaint was rejected by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump’s temporary immigration ban faces crucial legal hurdles, but the court said it would reconsider the government’s request after receiving more information. Trump’s administration has a deadline on Monday to justify the executive order temporarily barring immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries and the entry of refugees, after a federal judge in Seattle blocked it with a temporary restraining order on Friday.
“The Order represents a significant departure from the principles of fairness and predictability that have governed the immigration system of the United States for more than fifty years,” the brief stated. “The Order inflicts significant harm on American business, innovation, and growth as a result,” it added.
“Immigrants or their children founded more than 200 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list.”
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