Microsoft is asking U.S. officials to grant exceptions for law-abiding, visa-holding workers and students from President Donald Trump’s immigration order, channeling the outrage expressed by many in the technology industry with a proposed solution.
Such individuals are low-risk — having already undergone a rigorous vetting process — and face immediate hardship as a result of last week’s order, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said in a letter Thursday to the secretaries of State and Homeland Security. Smith said he believes the two officials are empowered to take the necessary steps to allow certain people entry into the country. The exemptions sought would cover workers with visas sponsored by U.S.-based companies and students with ones via a U.S.-based school.
“We believe such an exception under the existing framework of the Executive Order would help address compelling personal needs without compromising the Executive Order’s security-related objectives,” Smith wrote in the letter and a related blog.
The U.S. technology industry responded immediately and with outrage to last Friday’s action from the new president, which set a 90-day ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen as well as a 120-halt on all refugees.