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 yesterday 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.
As the only amicus brief submitted at this point in the Hawaii proceedings on behalf of the tech industry, MassTLC’s voice in this matter is particularly important in representing the important role of immigrants, including those from the affected countries. In the brief, MassTLC outlines 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 has an adverse impact on domestic tech leadership and economic prosperity by causing global talent to gravitate to tech hubs outside the country. Domestic companies will 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 discourages 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, will be impacted as the diversity of participants are 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.
