Apple, other top tech companies argue against Trump travel ban

FILE- US President Donald Trump. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

Update

WASHINGTON – Dozens of top tech companies — including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter — have filed a joint legal brief arguing against President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

The brief was filed late Sunday with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of an ongoing lawsuit against the ban.

It charged that the ban “inflicts significant harm on American business, innovation, and growth as a result,” according to a copy of the document published by US media outlets.

Executives from several top Silicon Valley companies had previously spoken out against the ban, which temporarily barred all refugees and travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States.

On Friday, following a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington challenging the ban, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily suspended Trump’s order pending a wider legal review.

The Trump administration appealed over the weekend to the Ninth Circuit court, where a flurry of legal filings were flooding in early Monday.

The travel ban would have a large impact on Silicon Valley firms which employ thousands of immigrants.

The 97 signatories to the brief argued that Trump’s ban harms recruiting and retention of talent, threatens business operations, and hampers the firms’ ability to attract investment to the United States.

Other tech companies that are part of the coalition include AirBnb, Dropbox, eBay, Intel, Kickstarter, LinkedIn, Lyft, Mozilla, Netflix, PayPal, Uber and Yelp.