Dear All,
Earlier this year, we wrote to let you know that the Wikimedia Foundation
had joined amicus briefs that supported challenges to executive orders on
immigration and travel[1] to the United States.[2][3] We’re writing now
with an update on these cases: the US government has petitioned the Supreme
Court to review the court of appeals decisions in State of Hawaii v. Trump
and International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump. [4][5] Arguments
will take place on October 10.
Last week, the Foundation was again invited to join an amicus brief to be
filed in these cases. This new brief makes similar arguments to our
previous filings opposing the executive order.[6] It describes how the
order’s restrictions would impact the international operations of the
Foundation and other signatories. It also detail legal problems with the
order’s provisions and proposed implementation. The brief, which was filed
today, was signed by 161 organizations.[7] We have also published a blog
post with additional information.[8]
As you know, we constantly monitor legal and policy developments around the
world for issues that impact the Wikimedia projects. The order’s
restrictions on international travel and immigration would affect our
ability to collaborate within the movement, among community members,
Foundation staffers, members of our Board, and other stakeholders in the
free knowledge space. Already, community conferences for our movement are
experiencing difficulties in obtaining visas for some volunteers and
further restrictions would endanger our work towards participatory and free
knowledge for everyone. We will continue to monitor the outcome of these
cases, and related developments.
Best,
Jan
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order_(United_States)
[2]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/02/06/amicus-brief-immigration-travel-restr…
[3]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/03/15/amicus-brief-us-travel-restrictions/
[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13780#Hawaii_v._Trump
[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Int%27l_Refugee_Assistance_Project_v._Trump
[6]
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Amicus_brief_of_tech_companies_%2…
[7]
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Trump_v._IRAP_Amicus_Brief_Filed_…
[8]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/09/18/amicus-brief-us-travel-immigration/
==
Jan Gerlach
Public Policy Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
jgerlach(a)wikimedia.org