Dear All,

Earlier this year, the Wikimedia Foundation, along with many other companies and organizations, filed two amicus briefs that support challenges to executive orders on immigration and travel[1] to the United States.[2][3] One case, Washington v. Trump, was dismissed by the Court.[4] However, the second case, State of Hawaii v. Trump, continues.[5] The judge in that case prevented the executive order from going into effect, and the US Government has appealed that order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, there is the similar case of International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump, which is before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.[6]

This week, the Foundation again joined with a group of over 160 other companies and organizations, to file an amicus brief[7] in both Hawaii v. Trump and International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump. The brief explains how the order would impact the international operations of the signatories, including the Foundation. It also outlines legal problems with the order’s provisions and proposed implementation.  

The order’s restrictions on international travel and immigration would harm our ability to collaborate with community members, Board members, and stakeholders across the globe. As you know, we constantly monitor the legal and policy landscape for opportunities to speak up on issues that impact the Wikimedia projects and the pursuit of our mission to make free knowledge available to all. We will keep you posted on the progress of these cases.

Best,

Jan

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order_(United_States)

[2] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/02/06/amicus-brief-immigration-travel-restrictions/

[3] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/03/15/amicus-brief-us-travel-restrictions/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_v._Trump

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13780#Hawaii_v._Trump

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13780#International_Refugee_Assistance_Project_v._Trump

[7] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Amicus_brief_of_tech_companies_%26_orgs,_Hawaii_v._Trump,_9th_Cir.pdf

==


Jan Gerlach
Public Policy Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
jgerlach@wikimedia.org