Thomson Reuters
People protest against President Donald Trump's travel ban in New York.
Legal challenges to President Donald Trump's travel ban are flying in thick and fast.
The latest is a brief from 97 tech firms, including Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google, filed Sunday as part of a case brought by Minnesota and Washington state against the ban, which temporarily bars travel to the US from citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries and from all refugees as the US reviews its vetting procedures.
The companies have filed an amicus brief, a legal document that can be filed by parties that have a strong interest in the case but aren't directly taking part.
According to Bloomberg, the brief outlines the importance of immigrants to the US economy. It says:
"Immigrants make many of the Nation's greatest discoveries, and create some of the country's most innovative and iconic companies. America has long recognized the importance of protecting ourselves against those who would do us harm. But it has done so while maintaining our fundamental commitment to welcoming immigrants-through increased background checks and other controls on people seeking to enter our country."
Other companies listed include Netflix, Spotify, Lyft, and LinkedIn.
Amazon is not among the companies on the amicus brief, but executives at the company have filed legal documents acknowledging that some Amazon employees would be directly affected by the ban.
Tesla is also missing from the list. CEO Elon Musk sits on Trump's business advisory council, which had its first meeting Friday. The meeting is not public, and Musk subsequently tweeted that he had put immigration top of the agenda.
Uber does appear on the list. CEO Travis Kalanick dropped out of Trump's council a day before its first meeting after a massive outcry among Uber's users.
Trump's team is appealing the case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal judge temporarily suspended the travel ban last week. Trump used Twitter over the weekend to attack the judge, James Robart, calling his decision "ridiculous." The appeals court is expected to decide on Monday on whether to block Robart's order.
Here's the brief in full:
At my request, the agenda for yesterday's White House meeting went from not mentioning the travel ban to having it be first and foremost
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2017