Make America great again. Seriously?

US President Trump has gone after the tech industry through another of his executive orders. The Muslim ban that has adversely affected some of the biggest names in the US tech industry and now some CEOs are speaking out. One of the most interesting things being pointed out is that Steve Jobs, the icon and founder of Apple was the son of a Syrian migrant and Mr. Trump is being cautioned about choosing wisely as to who should be kept out. The irony is hardly lost upon anyone. Had there been a similar ban 50 years ago, there would have been no Steve Jobs and we would not have had seen the birth of perhaps the most innovating tech company the world has ever seen. The ban that has been put into effect has unsettled captains of industry in the tech world who have till now kept mostly quiet on Mr. Trump's onslaught.

That scenario has changed. The administration's decision to ban entry of immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations has begun to ferment dissent in Silicon Valley, and why not? Thousands of Green-card holders, many of whom are employed in companies like Uber, Google and Facebook have been left stranded abroad. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently wrote a memo which had been obtained by Bloomberg News stated "It's painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues". Then we have Apple CEO Tim Cook who has written a similar memo to his employees that the company they work for "would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do." Indeed, Silicon Valley is a hub for immigration and it is so because this is where the world's brightest are converging to take innovation forward. 

Thus Mr. Trump who has been bulldozing his way around Capitol Hill with his executive decisions has run up against a "wall" of opposition from the software and hardware industry. But again, this is not exactly news as pointed out by Fortune magazine recently: "No Fortune 100 CEO endorsed Trump in the race, while others, including some who self-identify as Republicans, backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump's victory initiated a truce. A market rally unleashed by expectations of new infrastructure spending and regulatory rollbacks helped hold it together – as did fear in C-suites of being singled out by the new president, who's wielded his Twitter account to name and shames American companies he believes are under investing at home." If this is the way the president-elect hopes to govern the United States, we wish him luck. Unfortunately for him, these companies are not going to take it lying down. Push has come to shove and many are pushing back because if the bloodline of new talent is cut off, these companies will not be doing much innovating.

Indeed, Microsoft, the Big Mac of the software industry (and a budding player in the hardware one) along with Uber, Apple and Google have all expressed dismay about the new ban on immigration. All this isn't coming out of some moral standing but for pragmatic reasons that will affect operations and profitability. That the CEOs of Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Uber, Airbnb and Tesla Motors have gone on the record to denounce this policy is due to the fact that it will affect people employed by these companies, their ability to work in the United States legally and more importantly affect the way these companies recruit talent globally. Netflix CEO and founder Reed Hastings has stated that "Trump's actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all....It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity."

Well Mr. Trump is merely delivering on one of his electoral promises. Make America Great again by allowing true Americans to return to high-paid jobs. Never mind whether they qualify for these or not, with the stroke of the executive wand, a lot of global talent will no longer be able to work in the US for a lot of US companies because it is the new American way to deny entry or delay entry of people from some countries which incidentally, happen to be predominantly Muslim-majority countries. We hope that this ban will "Make America great again"- by depriving American companies the ability to source talented people globally who contribute greatly to make some of the most innovative products and services that are known to not just Americans, but the rest of the world.

The writer is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.