While the tech industry had never been particularly warm to candidate or President Trump, industry leaders made it clear after his election that they were open to, and in some cases eager about, working with him.
For some of those leaders, the approach changed abruptly after Trump signed an executive order temporarily preventing immigrants, visitors and refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Leaders in the industry spoke out forcefully against the ban, and three tech giants in the Seattle area — Amazon, Microsoft and Expedia — are supporting Washington state’s lawsuit against the order.
A leaked draft of an anticipated Executive Order that would make significant changes to the H-1B visa program, which tech companies rely on to bring talent into the country, also has many in the industry concerned. President Trump also has plans to axe a visa workaround that allows foreign entrepreneurs to found companies in the U.S., put in place by President Obama.
In this episode of the Week in Geek, GeekWire’s Todd Bishop and Monica Nickelsburg dive into all the drama around Trump’s immigration plans, and the effects they could have on the industry.
Listen to the podcast above, or download it as an MP3 here.
