06.02.2017 - 09:43 [ app.box.com ]

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE BRIEF OF TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES AND OTHER BUSINESSES AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF APPELLEES

The Equal Protection Clause bars all federal officials, including the President, from treating individuals differently because of their national origin. The Order violates these basic precepts. It bars anyone from seven countries from immigrating to the United States for a period of 90 days, and provides that the President may indefinitely bar immigration from other countries, as well. Order § 3(c), (e)-(f). The Order thus does exactly what section 1152(a)(1)(A) and the Constitution prohibit: it discriminates against immigrants on the basis of nationali-ty. See Olsen v. Albright, 990 F. Supp. 31, 39 (D.D.C. 1997) (“The principle that government must not discriminate against particular individuals because of the color of their skin or the place of their birth means that the use of generalizations based on these factors [in the immigration context] is unfair and unjustified.”).