Ninety-seven technology companies, including Apple, Microsoft and Google have joined the legal battle against the Donald Trump administration’s ban on travellers and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, now suspended by a federal court.
Thousands of people from these countries with valid U.S. visas are trying to reach the country even as the the suspension of the travel ban is in effect. A U.S. federal appeals court is set to give an order this week, while the federal judge in Washington State who temporarily suspended the ban will also consider fresh arguments, both by the State that is opposed to the ban and the Trump administration, on Monday before its final order.
Coordinated resistance
A filing by the technology companies in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in California — which will also hear the challenge to the Washington order — showed a coordinated resistance. The appeals court had refused to reinstate the ban on Sunday, turning down a plea by the administration.
These companies submitted that “American innovation and economic growth are intimately tied to immigration and …the executive order harms the competitiveness of U.S. companies.” They said the executive order was unlawful as it “discriminates on the basis of nationality” and “exercises discretion arbitrarily”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump on Sunday accused the Washington judge of opening the country to terrorists, mounting a public campaign against the judiciary and stirring up public support for his executive decision.
“The judge opens up our country to potential terrorists and others that do not have our best interests at heart. Bad people are very happy,” he said.
He had earlier called the Washington judge a “so-called judge”, a remark that drew widespread criticism from all quarters including some Republican Senators, but Vice-President Mike Pence supported the President.
The travel ban, like Mr. Trump’s other measures, has polarised the American electorate, according to opinion polls. While there has been a groundswell of resistance in coastal America, Trump supporters in the middle States are unfazed. Many of them appear to be supportive of the President’s move, according to media reports.
At least 2,50,000 Muslims are estimated to be working in the Silicon Valley tech and many of them are from the seven countries direcrly affected by the travel ban.
