Microsoft on Thursday said it 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, Apple and Amazon.com 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 dependants were affected by the travel ban.
Microsoft's proposal would cover holders of the H-1B visa, a temporary work visa that the tech sector relies on to recruit foreign talent. Kelly issued an order on Sunday saying that green card holders would be allowed to travel under the executive orders, but H-1B holders from the seven affected countries are still banned.
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