Monday, 6 February 2017

Facebook, Google, Apple, & Microsoft Just Took Legal Action Against Trump

Posted by sizzledfeed on 10:44

Facebook, Google, Apple, & Microsoft Just Took Legal Action Against Trump
ByMarisa Manfredo

A group of ninety-seven mostly tech companies, including Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft, has taken legal action against the Donald Trump Administration over its controversial travel ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban, which was blatant Islamophobia with a national security label attached to it, blocked traveling refugees, visa holders, and even green card holders. It opened the doors to the possible deportation of visa holders currently residing in America who are from one of the affected countries.

The ban has been temporarily halted by the federal courts, but in the meanwhile, Silicon Valley has stepped up to make it clear that Trump’s Muslim-ban is not good for American business. The amicus brief filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says that the ban marks “a sudden shift in the rules governing entry into the United States, and is inflicting substantial harm on U.S. companies.”

The document continues, “Immigrants make many of the Nation’s greatest discoveries, and create some of the country’s most innovative and iconic companies. At the same time, America has long recognized the importance of protecting ourselves against those who would do us harm. But it has done so while maintaining the fundamental commitment to welcoming immigrants -through increased background checks and other controls on people seeking to enter our country.”

American industry has a long, rich tradition of relying on new immigrants to innovate. More than 200 of the Fortune 500 Companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Tech companies succeed by using skilled labor from at home and abroad, concentrating the world’s elite pool of talent into American businesses.

Trump’s immigration ban is un-American, unconstitutional, and a threat to American business. It would be hard to come up with a policy so diametrically opposed to America’s own values and interests. We hope that the ‘pro-business’ and ‘pro-jobs’ Trump Administration heeds the warning of the tech giants before Americans join the group of foreigners already suffering at the hands of Trump’s ill-conceived travel ban.