Tech companies including Google, Facebook and others used their legal might to file suit against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Harvard and MIT filed a legal complaint on July 9(opens in a new tab) Challenges to the government’s July 6 policy update against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security will require international students to leave the country if they are enrolled in a college or university that is conducting online classes.
Monday, the US Chamber of Commerce, along with several big tech companies and trade associations, filed an “amicus brief.”(opens in a new tab) or a legal paper that provides support and additional arguments in favor of one of the parties in a lawsuit. In such a situation, Big Tech is taking the side of Higher Ed.
There are 19 “amici curiae,” or signatories, for short. Tech companies that are household names in addition to Google and Facebook include Adobe Systems, Box, Dropbox, Github, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PayPal, SalesForce, Spotify and Twitter. Etiquette(opens in a new tab) Briefly reported earlier.
The basis of Harvard and MIT’s lawsuit is that the government violated administrative process in a way that is “arbitrary and arbitrary”. Amika said the decision would hurt businesses and the US economy, which the government would have to consider before making policy changes.
It argues that jeopardizing the ability of international students to study in the United States will affect the companies’ customers as well as their future employees, harming American business in the long term.
“Without international students, American educational institutions face a sudden loss of critical mass – jeopardizing their ability to maintain their standards of excellence; to produce research that will keep American businesses on the cutting edge of innovation; and provides training that makes American students a strong talent pool for their future employers,” reads the brief.
Silicon Valley stood up for immigrants and visa holders during the Trump administration’s 2017 ‘Muslim ban’. If not only for humanitarian and common sense compassionate reasons, then support for Big Tech business makes sense as well. 71 percent according to the 2016 census(opens in a new tab) Silicon Valley tech workers are immigrants.
You can read the full amicus brief here(opens in a new tab) or embedded below.
