Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and renowned philanthropist, recently announced his affiliation with FWD.us, a tech industry group that intends to fight leading Republican candidate Donald Trump and his repeated calls to enact massive removals of undocumented immigrants from the United States.
Although Zuckerberg has already made headlines for his philanthropic efforts, this is the strongest statement he has made thus far in terms of American politics. FWD.us aims to raise awareness about the dangers of Trump’s proposal, and it intends to do so by reaching out to tech industry leaders and their respective communities, which happen to be among the most connected and politically active.
It is estimated that 11 million undocumented immigrants could be affected by the mass deportation proposed by Trump, who has also pledged to erect a wall along the entire southern border.
One of the salient points that FWD.us wants to communicate is that there is a real and tragic cost to massive deportations. According to policy papers and studies evaluated by FWD.us, a mass deportation could come at a cost of $600 billion to American taxpayers, and that is not even considering the economic toll that would be suffered by immigrant communities after millions of their loved ones are removed from the country in the next few years.
An immediate effort by FWD.us will consist of contacting pro-immigration business leaders, like those who rely on permanent residency through work, who can influence their local communities. Another effort will consist of online pledges that can be sent to candidates via email or social media messages. These messages will be of support towards immigration reform, a legislative package that should have been enacted a long time ago. It is not clear at this time whether the group will invest in media campaigns.
FWD.us was pleased to learn that the Supreme Court intends to issue a ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive decision to bar mass deportation since it runs against the intent of immigration reform, which this administration has been strongly supportive of. One of the tenets of FWD.us is that immigrant communities have been crucial and inspirational for Silicon Valley in terms of tech development and innovation.
For more information, call KS Visa Law at (858) 874-0711. One of our professional and experienced immigration lawyers in San Diego can assist you and schedule a free consultation at your earliest convenience.
