17 universities have filed a brief on Monday in support of a court challenge to President Trump's immigration policy. The higher education institutions believe that the executive order, while limited to seven countries only, have already had damaging effects on American universities.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the brief was filed in a civil action sought by the attorney general of New York and several others in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The order has been stayed due to the pending resolution of another case that challenged President Trump's immigration ban in Washington State.

The amicus brief was posted in Princeton University's official website. It listed the universities that expressed their "support of the relief sought by petitioners and intervernor-plaintiff."

Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, Duke University, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University have all acknowledged the brief and admitted their support of the challenge to President Trump's immigration ban. All Ivy League institutions: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University have also signed the amicus brief.

The brief noted that each institution that joined the challenge aim to create future leaders from nearly every continent by educating them, attract the best talents in the world and cross international borders to work. President Trump's travel ban threatens the institution's ability to welcome international students, faculty as well as scholars into their communities.

According to USA Today College, an amicus brief is a legal document which can be filed by interested parties who are not directly involved in an active lawsuit. It is also known as a "friend of court" brief.

They are allowed to share their opinions on a specific court case through the brief. This usually happens when the parties feel that the court's decision would affect them. It is a way of asking the court to consider their opinion.

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