The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, will be joining with other technology executives to form a nonprofit advocacy group, initially focusing on the issue of immigration reform.
The move comes at a time when the technology industry as a whole has been pushing for comprehensive, sensible immigration reform. While Silicon Valley executives have stressed the need for reform in order to better attract the world’s top high-tech workers, they also support creating a path to citizenship for the current 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL recently testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying:
While my main focus is on talent, I also believe we need to work together to create a dignified path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented workers currently in the country.
Last month, a “virtual” march for immigration reform was announced, to be led by representatives from around the nation, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as Steve Case and former Mozilla CEO John Lilly. The goal of the march is to bring hundreds of thousands together using social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to promote immigration legislation that works for everyone.
According to Politico, Zuckerberg has tapped a bipartisan group of strategists to create his advocacy group. The group includes Joe Lockhart of the Glover Park Group, a former White House communications secretary under President Bill Clinton; Jon Lerner, a Republican strategist; and Rob Jesmer, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
According to the San Francisco Gate, Zuckerberg is said to have pledged as much as $20 million to the upcoming advocacy group.
