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Tech Firms Reject Second Trump Travel Ban

In an amicus brief, 56 companies said that the new ban against travel from several Muslim countries would be just as damaging to their businesses as the first.

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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President Donald Trump's revised ban on travelers from several Muslim countries has prompted a slightly smaller chorus of objections from major American technology firms compared to the furor over the first travel ban.

The revised ban, which is set to take effect on Thursday, is the subject of lawsuits from several states, including Washington and Hawaii. Fifty-eight tech companies filed an amicus brief on Tuesday in support of the Hawaiian suit, claiming that it would hurt their businesses and their employees, The Verge reports.

Among the amici companies are Silicon Valley powerhouses like Airbnb and Lyft, and also smaller startups like Twilio and Audacity. Their filing offers real-world examples of employees who were affected by the first travel ban, including US-based employees who had to cancel trips abroad, and prospective foreign employees who were unable to accept job offers from American tech firms.

"President Trump's new travel ban is no different," the companies wrote. "It will inflict the same substantial and irreparable harm upon US companies and their employees."

Noticeably absent from Tuesday's brief are the big-name companies that were part of the group of 97 that filed a similar amicus brief against the first travel ban in February, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Uber. A few non-tech companies that signed the first brief, including Levi Strauss and yogurt maker Chobani, are also missing from Tuesday's filing.

Judges in Maryland and Hawaii are expected to issue rulings in the cases against the revised travel ban as early as Wednesday, Reuters reports.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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