Prospects for the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform anytime soon are looking dim. Mark Zuckerberg is doing what he can to turn that around. The 29-year-old Facebook CEO is meeting privately this week with several high-level politicians on both sides of the aisle in Capitol Hill in an apparent effort to persuade them to pass a reform. On Wednesday, he spoke with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who helped write the Senate's comprehensive bill, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has refused to introduce that bill for consideration in the Republican-majority House, citing opposition to it from most members of his party. Zuckerberg is slated to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.).
Zuckerberg, long averse to public spotlight, has begrudgingly entered it as immigration reform legislation has fallen from center stage in Congress. In early August, he spoke at the San Francisco premiere of "Documented", a film by journalist Jose Antonio Vargas which documents Vargas' struggles as an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines. There, Zuckerberg said he hoped a comprehensive reform would pass not just for the high-tech workers who would benefit his company, but also for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States. He reiterated that point on Wednesday in an interview with the Atlantic taking place after his meetings with Congressional lawmakers, saying, "The purpose of this trip is largely for immigration and not for Facebook." Zuckerberg added, "Actually addressing the 11 million undocumented folks is a lot bigger problem than high-skilled workers." He also acknowledged that the odds that House Republicans would pass a comprehensive reform with legal status or citizenship for the undocumented didn't look good, but said he still had hope. "You don't try to build something crazy if you're not optimistic about the world."
His immigration lobby group, FWD.us, has adopted a quixotic strategy that has alienated some of its all-star Silicon Valley members: this summer, it released a steady stream of ads invoking America's history of immigration and calling for reform with a path to citizenship for the undocumented, but it also sought to reassure conservative politicians who supported the same by running ads on conservative talk radio and television affirming those politicians' right-wing bona fides. That included one which praised Senator Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) for his outspoken support of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline - and which occasioned Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk to withdraw from FWD.us along with a host of other progressive collaborators.
RELATED: What Does FWD.us Want To See Out Of An Immigration Reform Bill?
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