UPDATE: March 31, 2017 – Litigation against the Trump Administration’s most recent “travel ban” executive order continues, nationwide. In Hawaii, where MassTLC filed an amicus brief, the nationwide temporary restraining order was entered two weeks ago has been converted to a preliminary injunction. The Administration has now appealed entry of the injunction to the 9th Circuit. Another nationwide ban, out of federal court in Maryland, is currently on appeal in the 4th Circuit. MassTLC intends to file a friend of the court brief in that appeal (currently due April 19).
MassTLC filed an amicus brief in support of a Hawaii lawsuit that led to a temporary nationwide block of President Donald Trump’s latest executive order on immigration.
We began talking with member companies about how a ban might affect their employees. Even after the first version of the ban was thrown out by a different federal court, MassTLC remained concerned.
MassTLC, with legal assistance from Foley Hoag, filed a friend of the court or amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii detailing the adverse impact of President Trump’s revised travel ban on the technology industry, a major driver of economic prosperity and global leadership for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States.
MassTLC’s voice in this matter is particularly important in representing the vital role of immigrants, including those from the affected countries. In the brief, MassTLC outlined for the Court the critical role that immigrants play in tech innovation and economic leadership in the United States in general, and Massachusetts in particular.
The travel ban would have an adverse impact on domestic tech leadership and economic prosperity by causing global talent to gravitate to tech hubs outside the country. Domestic companies would grow their foreign offices to capture global tech talent, causing supporting jobs to be sourced out of foreign offices rather than domestic, reducing employment in the US.
The ban also would discourage talented foreign students from attending local educational institutions, from which the tech industry hires many engineers and scientists to drive innovation in Massachusetts and the United States. Finally, the technology industry which thrives on a culture of diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunity, would be impacted as the diversity of participants became limited.
MassTLC enlisted the legal assistance of Foley Hoag to help the Council assess the fluid landscape in the various courts relating to the Executive Orders on Immigration, engage with our members, develop the amicus brief, and advise MassTLC on the timing and venue for weighing in on this matter.
