Dive Brief:
- Tech companies including Amazon, Facebook and Google, came together this week to file a brief in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit against President Donald Trump's most recent executive order on immigration, Recode reports. The companies argue the travel ban is harmful to companies, employees and the "entire economy."
- In all, 162 tech companies signed the brief, saying the second iteration of the travel ban "hinders the ability of American companies to attract talented employees, 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."
- A judge in Washington state blocked Trump’s first attempt at a travel ban. Trump revealed the latest version in March.
Dive Insight:
In February, almost 100 technology companies joined a legal brief opposing President Trump's first proposed immigration ban. Now, even more companies have joined the protest against his newest proposed ban.
Tech companies have a financial stake in ensuring such bans are not enforced, so they tend to stress their concerns about access to talent and their future ability to compete globally.
Tech companies and Trump don’t always see eye-to-eye when it comes to non-U.S.-based talent and its potential impacts on the U.S. economy. Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order encouraging U.S. companies to "Hire American and Buy American." The order calls for "strict enforcement" of labor laws for workers coming to the U.S. and asks agencies to look into how to revise the H-1B program.
