Update: More companies are joining in on this brief. After this story was published over 30 more companies got in on the filing, including Destiny dev Bungie. More may yet add their support to the brief, which is described below.
Original Story: Many notable tech industry giants including video game firm Zynga, as well as tech/game crossover companies such as Apple, Facebook, Google, & Microsoft have signed a legal brief to indicate that the selective immigration ban signed by the US President substantially harms US companies.
According to Recode, 97 companies signed the brief in total, most of which fall within the tech industry.
The 53-page legal document explains in detail how the selective ban, which temporary blocked immigrants and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, makes it difficult for American companies to compete with international entities.
Though the ban was halted this past Saturday by a federal judge, unsuccessful efforts have since been made by the President’s office to reinstate the heavily selective process that bars residents of Syria, Iran, Sudan, Lybia, Somalia, Yemen, and Iraq from entering the United States.
“[The executive order] hinders the ability of American companies to attract great talent; increases costs imposed on business, makes it more difficult for American firms to compete in the international market-place; and gives global enterprises a new, significant incentive to build operations — and hire new employees — outside the United States,” explains a selection from the legal brief.
The document itself, along with a full list of the 97 companies who signed the brief, can be found on Recode.
Several video game companies, including Blizzard, Insomniac Games, Electronic Arts, and Ink Stories have spoken out against the travel ban for many of the same reasons listed since the executive order was put into effect at the end of January.
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