On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. said it proposed an exception program to US President Donald Trump's administration in which allowing people from several predominantly Muslim nations to enter and leave the United States on business or family emergeny travel if they hold valid work or students visas and haven't committed crimes are in the main agenda.
A letter was written to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in which Microsoft President Brad Smith stressed for a program for case-by-case review of exceptions to a travel ban that was initiated last week. Microsoft is the first major company to request the government to create a program that would ease the ban on foreign-born workers who do not have permanent residence in the United States.
The proposal was made to argue on the fact that Kelly and Tillerson have enough powers to grant exceptions to the travel ban imposed by Trump last week. Technology companies that include Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc have been vocal in their opposition to President's orders, they say the companies rely on foreign workers for development of their products.
Microsoft's proposal would also hold for H1-B visa holders, a temporary work visa that tech sector relies on to recruit good foreign talents. On Sunday, Kelly announced that green card holders would be allowed to travel under executive orders, but H1-B visa holders would be banned from seven affected countries.
This proposal would also allow students to travel from affected countries if they can prove their worth when they are enrolled and have good standing at a US school. The letter proposed said that both students and employees would not be allowed to travel back to the banned countries for business reasons but could travel there for family reasons.
Microsoft is also among several tech firms who are considering to sign an open letter to President Trump expressing concern about ban implemented him on Syrian refugees, along with other issues such as the estimated 750,000 people brought to the United States as children whose immigration status is unclear.
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