Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Makes First Public Push For Immigration Reform
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stepped away from his computer screen on Monday to speak out publicly in favor of immigration reform for the first time, an issue he’s been working on behind the scenes for several months.
The 29-year-old billionaire made his remarks in San Francisco at the debut screening of “Documented,” an autobiographical documentary by activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas.
Wearing his trademark hoodie and sneakers, Zuckerberg disputed the notion that he and other Silicon Valley leaders are just trying to secure more H1B visas for high-tech workers.
“This is something that we believe is really important for the future of our country — and for us to do what’s right,” Zuckerberg told several hundred attendees, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Zuckerberg and his former Harvard University roommate Joe Green recently founded the organization Fwd.us to advocate for a pathway to citizenship for nearly 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. But Monday was the first time Zuckerberg spoke about the issue in public.