Airbnb, Lyft and 56 other tech companies filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief this morning seeking to block President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban from going into effect tomorrow. The amicus brief is in support of a lawsuit filed by the state of Hawaii, which asks for a temporary restraining order against Trump’s second attempt to restrict travel from countries with Muslim-majority populations.
The brief argues that the planned travel restrictions would be bad for businesses in the United States, saying it would “result in constitutional injuries to employees and customers of Amici. These injuries would inflict significant and irreparable harm on U.S. businesses and their employees, stifling the growth of the United States’ most prominent industries.”
Last month, 97 tech companies signed onto an amicus brief in opposition of Trump’s first proposed travel ban. Other tech companies on board this brief include Warby Parker, Udacity, Square, Twilio, Postmates and Pinterest.
“Barring people from entering our country because of where they’re from is wrong,” Airbnb head of policy Chris Lehane said in a statement. “Our community’s mission is to allow anyone to belong anywhere, and we will take a stand when we see policies that conflict with our values.”
For some context, the first travel ban attempted to restrict travel from seven Muslim-majority nations; the current proposal aims to restrict for 90 days travel from six: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Syria. It also aims to bar refugees from the U.S. for 120 days. What’s different about this proposal is the removal of Iraq from the list, as well as the permanent ban on refugees.
Update: An Uber spokesperson tells us that the company has joined the brief. “Our sentiment has not changed: President Trump’s immigration ban is unjust and wrong. We will continue to stand up for those in the Uber community affected,” the spokesperson told TechCrunch.
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