More than 160 technology companies filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging the justices to rule against President Trump’s travel ban.
Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Uber and many others opposed Trump’s travel ban in the dispute pending before the high court on the grounds that it will “stifle the nation’s economic growth and global competitiveness.”
“The order affects a significant shift in the rules governing entry into the United States, and is inflicting substantial harm on American companies, their employees and the entire economy,” the technology companies argued in the brief filed Monday. “It 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.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in October over a pair of cases involving Trump’s ban, which temporarily blocks foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S. The high court allowed a modified version of the ban to proceed that blocks foreign nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days unless they have certain family ties in the U.S., a move the Trump administration said is needed to ensure national security.
The brief from the 161 companies rejected the Trump administration’s claims of national security concerns.
“The order also exceeds the president’s authority under the nation’s immigration laws,” the companies’ brief stated. “To bar a class of aliens from the United States, the president must reasonably determine that their entry would be detrimental to the nation, and then craft an order that reasonably addresses any threat that those individuals might pose. The order here falls far short of these requirements — it neither explains why the targeted individuals’ entry would be detrimental to the United States nor imposes reasonable restrictions.”
