Trump immigration ban: Microsoft’s exemption plan, Facebook to be hit by H1-B

Microsoft President Brad Smith outlined a program for case-by-case review of exceptions to the travel ban

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Microsoft has proposed a program to Trump’s administration which will allow people from these ‘banned’ nations to enter and leave the United States on business or family emergency travel if they hold valid work or student visas. (Source: Reuters)

Silicon Valley majors like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter Uber are resisting President Trump’s executive order on immigration, which has banned the entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, including those people who have valid visas. There are also reports that the Trump administration wants to toughen the rules for H1-B visas, which is commonly used by Silicon Valley players to get new talent into the country.

While a report in Wall Street Journal said Apple is contemplating taking the Trump administration to court for its executive order, another said most of the major technology companies have come up with a draft letter to the President asking him to repeal the order.

Now Microsoft has proposed a program to Trump’s administration which will allow people from these ‘banned’ nations to enter and leave the United States on business or family emergency travel if they hold valid work or student visas, and have not committed any crimes.

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In a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Microsoft President Brad Smith outlined a program for case-by-case review of exceptions to a travel ban instituted last week. In Microsoft’s case 76 employees, and 41 dependents were affected by the travel ban.

Also read: Microsoft, Amazon and Expedia to support lawsuit against Trump immigration order

Meanwhile Amazon and Expedia Inc have filed declarations supporting a legal challenge to the order by the Washington state Attorney General. Microsoft’s proposal would cover holders of the H-1B visa, a temporary work visa that the tech sector relies on to recruit foreign talent. The order has allowed green card holders, but H-1B holders from these affected countries remain banned.

According to the Reuters report, “the proposal would also allow students to travel from affected countries if they can prove they were enrolled and in good standing at a US school.”

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“In short, these individuals are ‘known quantities’ in their communities: their character, personalities, conduct, and behavior is understood by their colleagues, employers, friends, and neighbors,” Microsoft’s Smith said in a blog post.

The blog post goes on to say, “Business travel abroad would not include passage through the countries covered by the executive order. Personal travel abroad for exigent family-related emergencies may allow for travel to any country on a case-by-case basis.”

It adds that many of the individuals “fill critical roles in the organizations that employ them, whether they are doctors, scientists, engineers, medical technicians, software developers, or any number of other highly skilled professionals,” and “valued contributors to the innovation, research and business acumen of our nation”.

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Meanwhile, there are reports that the Trump administration and Congress plan to make the H-1B program more restrictive. One company that could be severely impacted by changes to the H1-B visa program is Facebook.

A Reuters analysis of US Labour Department filings shows that 15 per cent of Facebook’s US employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, giving the social media leader a legal classification as a H-1B “dependent” company.

The report says this is a higher proportion than Alphabet’s Google, Apple, Amazon.com or Microsoft. The average salary offered for Facebook H-1B jobs was $145,550, according to its application filings last year.

With Reuters inputs