DREAM Act Portal Forum - Zuckerberg says he’s in D.C. for immigration

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By JESSICA MEYERS | 9/18/13 4:24 PM EDT

Fresh off meetings on the Hill, Mark Zuckerberg insisted Wednesday that immigration reform still has legs.

“I’ve only encountered people who seem like they have good intentions and want to move this forward,” the Facebook CEO said at a packed Newseum event with James Bennet, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

“The purpose of this trip is largely about immigration rather than Facebook,” clarified the 29-year-old billionaire, who replaced the suit he wore to the Capitol for his characteristic black hoodie.

Zuckerberg returns to Washington for the first time in three years. His visit represents a shift for the young executive, who, until this year, largely shied away from politics. He dropped by Capitol Hill on Wednesday and will return Thursday for more meetings with House and Senate leadership on both sides, Senate Commerce Committee members and some House lawmakers. His Wednesday visit included an immigration talk with Gang of Eight leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), although Zuckerberg is expected to face other questions about online privacy, National Security Agency surveillance and Internet.org, his new effort to expand online access.

But the tech chief has made immigration his policy priority. He co-founded an immigration reform advocacy group, FWD.us, earlier this year and has trumpeted the need for a massive overhaul. Its head, Joe Green, watched from an audience scattered with lawmakers and D.C. lobbyists.

While he’s expected to discuss numerous issues with lawmakers, Zuckerberg will attend a meeting Thursday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several House immigration advocates that focuses specifically on that issue.

“I’m optimistic, but I’m an entrepreneur,” he said. “You don’t go off and try to build something crazy if you aren’t.”

Zuckerberg acknowledged the need to “debug” some aspects of FWD.us, which stumbled out of the gate. The organization alarmed some in the tech industry earlier this year when two of its subsidiaries sponsored ads that criticized the president’s health-care policy and advocated for the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Facebook head stressed the importance of a full immigration overhaul and working with both parties to get there.

“Actually addressing the 11 million undocumented folks is a lot bigger problem than high-skilled workers,” he said, countering the notion that party differences would rupture the effort. “What I see isn’t the straight bipartisan clash.”

Full article at:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...#ixzz2feRlj4WV

Interesting...I didn't know about FWD.us until now.