By Ron Bell, General Counsel
Yahoo and Tumblr announced today that they’ve joined a number of companies as amici in Darweesh v. Trump, a New York federal case challenging President Trump’s January 27, 2017 immigration-related Executive Order. The Executive Order, implementation of which is currently halted by courts, prohibits citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days, and indefinitely halts admission of refugees from Syria.
The seven countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Our amicus brief filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York argues that the Executive Order curtails diversity and harms innovation, impairs amici’s ongoing business operations, and is unconstitutional. A copy of the brief can be found here.
U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly granted a January 28 temporary restraining order in favor of the petitioners in Darweesh. The Judge later extended that order until February 21. The issue now is whether the Court will grant a preliminary injunction further enjoining enforcement of the Executive Order.
While the arguments made in our amicus filing are not dissimilar to others made on the broader issue, the petitioners’ record of service to the United States at great personal risk—one as a nearly 10-year Iraqi translator for the U.S. Army; the other, as a former U.S. contractor in Iraq—make their personal situations particularly compelling and illustrate why classifications based on nationality—such as the Executive Order—are inherently suspect.
Why take a stand on this issue?
Immigrants to the U.S. bring with them immense talent and entrepreneurship that help drive the innovation economy. Yahoo was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo – two Stanford grad students, one from Taiwan and one from Louisiana – so we know firsthand that great things can happen when America welcomes the world’s best and brightest.
Skilled, hardworking people around the world innovate together to make the products Yahoo users love. In the United States alone, our SVP of Advertising and Search emigrated from Chile, our Chief Information Officer from Canada, and our SVP of Publisher Products from Lebanon—and they merely exemplify our multicultural workforce. The power of diversity, enshrined in our corporate history and culture, embodies the diaspora that also underpins and enables the American experience.
Moreover, at Yahoo and Tumblr, we consider technologies and governments most effective when they bridge cultural divides, not enshrine them. We see this demonstrated every day by our more than 1 billion users worldwide and in the disparate views and perspectives to which Tumblr creators and Yahoo commenters lend their voices.
Yahoo and Tumblr consider inclusiveness and diversity essential to recruit, grow, and retain the best talent in the world so we can create the best possible products. We will continue to press for, and collaborate toward, national immigration policies that reflect the open, inclusive foundations on which our businesses—and many others—depend to serve their users, their employees, and their investors.
