The Trump administration rule has come under fire as tech giants Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Spotify and PayPal urged a federal court to block the new rule that may lead to seeing a large number of international students leaving the USA.
According to a report by Business Insider, the rule would require in-person teaching for student visas, meaning international students whose universities do not hold in-person classes in the fall would be forced to leave the US.
These tech companies have also joined in to file a court brief in support of the lawsuit filed by Harvard and MIT. This is said to argue that the ban will "inflict significant harm" on their businesses by reducing their customer base and hampering their ability to recruit top talent from US universities, Business Insider reported.
"America's future competitiveness depends on attracting and retaining talented international students," the brief said. "Individuals who come here as international students are also essential to educating the next generation of inventors."
Microsoft President Brad Smith took it to twitter to state the reason why the tech giant signed the amicus brief.
“Covid-19 has thrown universities and students into a state of uncertainty. We need to give all students, including those who’ve come to the US from abroad to learn, flexibility during this pandemic. That’s why we signed today’s amicus brief”
Tech leaders have repeatedly spoken out against Trump administration policies that would hamper immigration, especially in relation to international students. This also saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg slam Trump's Muslim immigration ban when it was first implemented, according to Business Tech.