Microsoft has proposed a program to US President Donald Trump's administration allowing people from seven predominantly Muslim nations to enter and leave the United States on business or family emergency travel if they hold valid work or student visas and have not committed any crimes.
In a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Microsoft President Brad Smith outlined a program for case-by-case review of exceptions to a travel ban instituted last week.
Microsoft is the first major US company to press the government to create a formal program that would ease the ban for foreign-born workers who do not have permanent residence in the United States.
Permanent residents, known as green card holders, were granted an exemption on Sunday.
The proposal argued that Kelly and Tillerson have the power to grant exceptions to the travel ban under the order issued last week by Trump.
Technology companies including Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc have been vocal in their opposition to Trump's order, arguing that they rely on workers from around the world to create their products and services.
Amazon and Expedia Inc filed declarations of support on Monday in a legal challenge to the order by the Washington state Attorney General. Microsoft said on Thursday that 76 of its employees and 41 dependents were affected by the travel ban.
Microsoft is also among several technology companies considering signing an open letter to Trump expressing concern about his ban 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.
The letter is being circulated among tech companies and companies outside the sector, according to two sources in the industry familiar with the matter.
Facebook Inc, Apple, Google and Microsoft, along with a number of companies outside the sector, are considering signing, the sources said.
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