President Trump signed an executive order on Friday titled "Protecting the Nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States", which blocks for 90 days people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It also bans all refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely.
1) VISITORS In addition, over 100,000 visas for foreigners inside and outside the USA have been revoked, temporarily. There were more than 86,000 non-immigrant, temporary visits by citizens from these countries in the 2015 fiscal year: 67,669 entries for visitors and business travelers, 14,135 entries for Students, 1,005 entries for temporary workers and 772 entries for fiancés of U.S. citizens. The ban affects these people, who are currently in the United States on temporary visas.
2) LEGAL IMMIGRANTS The people who are newly arriving on immigrant visas, which are issued based on employment or family status are also affected. In 2015, 52,365 people got their green cards.
3) LEGAL REFUGEES The ban of all refugees to the USA is set at 120 days, except for the Syrian refugees, who are barred indefinitely.
At the same time, a bunch of famous tech companies (97 firms including Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft, eBay, PayPal Holdings, Quora, Uber, Netflix and Twitter) has filed, in a Washington state court opposing D. Trump's executive order on immigration, an amicus curiae (brief) - legal documents filed in appellate court cases by non-ligitants with an interest in the subject matter. The briefs advise the court of additional facts, information, and arguments that the court might wish to consider. -
These 97 tech giants put their names to the document which supports the state of Washington in its battle against what is considered as a Muslim ban.
Why are these US tech firms concerned by this executive order?
There is below, an economic argument, saying that this decision also "inflicts significant harm on American Business, innovation, and growth," disrupting some current works and making it "more difficult and expensive for US companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world's best employees." the brief reads.
Considered as the strongest legal attack on the ruling, Washington state has led a strong campaign against the order, leading by Bob Ferguson, the state's attorney General.
Source (c): NY Times, Wikipedia, The Verge, Japan Times