WASHINGTON \u2014
A coalition led by some of the world\u2019s biggest tech firms is taking on President Donald Trump\u2019s travel ban, signaling the contentious relationship between the sector and the White House could be about to get worse.
Dozens of technology giants\u2014including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter\u2014filed a joint legal brief arguing against the temporary ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Their legal challenge suggests the important tech sector\u2014which overwhelmingly opposed Trump in the November election\u2014is likely to be headed for more battles with the new administration.
\u201cThe tech sector will stand up to the president when they see him threatening industry interests, and on the immigration issue all these companies depend heavily on foreign scientists and engineers,\u201d said Darrell West, director of the Brookings Institution\u2019s Center for Technology Innovation.
\u201cI think there is likely to be an adversarial relationship because many tech companies are staffed by millennials, and dominated by young and progressive people who are opposed to what Trump is doing now.\u201d
Initial hopes for better cooperation faded this month when Uber founder Travis Kalanick quit Trump\u2019s business advisory board, saying he did not want to be seen as endorsing the president\u2019s policies.
While the sector enjoyed unusual cooperation and access to the White House during the presidency of Barack Obama, West said that \u201cthe technology sector doesn\u2019t need much from government.\u201d
\u201cAlmost all the tech innovation is funded by the private sector,\u201d he added. \u201cAll they really want is a light regulatory touch.\u201d
The brief filed in a federal appeals court\u2014in support of a suspension of the travel ban\u2014said the executive order has already created disruption in the sector, which depends heavily on foreign-born talent.
\u201cThis instability and uncertainty will make it far more difficult and expensive for U. S. companies to hire some of the world\u2019s best talent\u2014and impede them from competing in the global marketplace,\u201d said the brief endorsed by 97 companies, mostly from the technology industry with some non-tech firms such as Levi Strauss and yogurt maker Chobani.
It argued that highly skilled people \u201cwill not wish to immigrate to the country if they may be cut off without warning from their spouses, grandparents, relatives, and friends.\u201d
Other tech companies in the coalition include Airbnb, Dropbox, eBay, Intel, Kickstarter, LinkedIn, Lyft, Mozilla, Netflix, PayPal, Uber and Yelp.
Executives from several top Silicon Valley companies had previously spoken out against the ban, which temporarily closed US borders to all refugees and travelers from seven mainly-Muslim nations\u2014Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Technology analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said the sector is fearful of Trump\u2019s intentions.
The travel ban has raised concerns, but \u201cit\u2019s what that order heralds in terms of what\u2019s likely to come next,\u201d Kay said.
\u201cThe belief is that Trump hasn\u2019t even started warming up yet. He hasn\u2019t even gotten close to what he would like to do to the society. He\u2019s just firing a few warning shots.\u201d
Vivek Wadhwa, a tech entrepreneur who is a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University\u2019s College of Engineering at Silicon Valley, echoed those sentiments, saying Trump \u201cshowed that he could at his whim target any group he wanted.\u201d
\u201cThe fact that green card holders could be denied admission back into the country, that was the scariest thing possible,\u201d Wadhwa added, referring to the contradictory messages issued in the wake of the decree over the status of green card holders on foreign travel.
Bob O\u2019Donnell, a Silicon Valley analyst and consultant with Technalysis Research, foresees more clashes ahead including on Trump\u2019s plan to tighten rules for the H1-B visa program for skilled workers and his vow bring manufacturing back to the United States.
Both of these issues are \u201chuge potential concerns\u201d for the tech industry, he said.
O\u2019Donnell said most tech firms are loath to cooperate with Trump, fearing it could hurt their image among his opponents\u2014and hit their bottom line.
\u201cCompanies are concerned about impacting their perception among their employees as well as their customers,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to figure out how to distance themselves\u201d from the White House.
But in some areas, he says, the two sides may be forced to work together, such as complex matters related to law enforcement access to encrypted devices.
\u201cYou can\u2019t put an executive order on encryption, there\u2019s way too much involved,\u201d he said.
\u00a9 2017 AFP<\/p>\n