Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally responded to several users that objected to his public statement supporting protections for illegal immigrants known as “Dreamers.”
“I stand with the Dreamers — the young people brought to our country by their parents. Many have lived here as long as they can remember,” Zuckerberg wrote Thursday on his Facebook profile page. “Dreamers have a special love for this country because they can’t take living here for granted. They understand all the opportunities they have and want nothing more than the chance to serve their country and their community. And Dreamers deserve that chance.”
He argued that the government, specifically President Donald Trump and his administration, needs to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era policy that provides a safeguard for illegal immigrants that came to the U.S. as children. Reports indicate that Trump is expected to sign an order, potentially as early as Friday, to end DACA. However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a press conference earlier this week that no final decision has been made regarding the program.
In response to Zuckerberg’s post, one Facebook user named Carl Kellogg wondered why the illegal immigrants, or Dreamers, “have not done the work to become CITIZEN’S (sic).”
“Carl: there is currently no pathway for undocumented immigrants to become citizens while living here,” Zuckerberg wrote in a direct, yet public, reply. “I’ve mentored a student who would like nothing more than to get his citizenship and maybe run for office one day, but he currently has no way to do that.”
Another user, Roddy Arnold, questioned Zuckerberg’s allegiance, asking “why don’t you stand with America?”
“We are a united country with all backgrounds, cultures, immigrants, etc. Furthermore, we are a country of laws and welcome immigrants with a path to citizenship,” Arnold continued. “You can preach unity and community all you want; however, you have to have laws.”
Zuckerberg conceded to his point that America is a nation of laws, but also equated the statute of limitations placed on a number of crimes to the deportation of immigrants who presumably did not have much say in their personal, physical transfer to the U.S.
“Our laws are not supposed to punish you for your parents’ actions. For these Dreamers, the only crime they were a part of was being brought here by their parents,” Zuckerberg wrote. “For many of them, that was more than 10 years ago when they were very young. It was not their decision … Ruining these young people’s lives by deporting them or forcing them to live in fear is not the just path forward.”
In apparent agreement with a user who stated that immigrants who are honest and hardworking are needed and should stay, but ones who commit harm should be deported, Zuckerberg said the latter happens, but often not the former.
“Any Dreamer who commits a crime already loses their DACA status and has to leave the country,” he explained. (RELATED: Facebook Tells Employees They Can Protest Trump)
The entrepreneurial wunderkind didn’t just personally address all of the claims and remarks that attempt to refute or undermine his perspective, as he also responded to people who showed support for DACA.
“Immigrants make America great,” Dex Torricke-Barton, the former head of communications at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, commented on Zuckerberg’s post.
“We are a nation of immigrants,” the Facebook leader wrote back. (RELATED: Despite Regularly Giving Away Money, Zuckerberg Adds $9 Billion To Net Worth Every Year)
Zuckerberg’s personal responses aren’t his only public display of support for DACA. Along with more than 300 other business magnates, he co-signed a letter urging Trump and congressional leaders to maintain the program allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. That letter was also posted on an immigration reform lobbying group “FWD.us,” which is led by Zuckerberg and some of the other biggest names in the tech industry, like Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
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