Amazon and Expedia have submitted declarations in a federal court in Washington, claiming that a recent immigration order by U. S. President Donald Trump is disrupting their business and affecting employees.
The actions by these companies come amid widespread public protests against the order, with many tech companies prominently in the opposition.
The declarations were filed by Amazon and Expedia in a lawsuit in which Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has asked the court to invalidate parts of the executive order for a number of reasons including that it discriminates in the issuance of immigrant visas on the basis of race, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.
The executive order signed by Trump suspended for 90 days entry into the U. S. of persons from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Immigrants and non-immigrants have protested both in the U. S. and abroad , with tech companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft strongly criticizing the move. The Trump administration has described the order as a move to prevent foreign terrorist entry into the U. S.
On Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and cofounder Sergey Brin addressed employees who were protesting the new regulation at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has in an email to employees reportedly promised that the full extent of Amazon’s resources are behind its employees in the U. S. and around the world who may be directly affected by the order. He also promised that the company would reach out to members of Congress to explore legislative options and also referred to the company’s “declaration of support” for the lawsuit by the Washington attorney general.
