Late last week, Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg hired nearly two dozen illegal immigrants and hosted a "hackathon" at LinkedIn headquarters in Silicon Valley in order to encourage Congress to take on illegal immigration next year.
Yesterday during an interview with ABC News, Zuckerberg said illegal immigration is one of the "biggest civil rights issues of our time." Zuckerberg, like the vast majority of lawmakers in Washington D.C., has chosen to ignore the increasingly criminal and dangerous elements of illegal immigration.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents aren't impressed with Zuckerberg's stunt and have repeatedly invited him, and other CEOs and political leaders, to meet with them so they can explain their position. Zuckerberg has refused.
“Earlier this month, we sent a letter to the major CEOs pushing a comprehensive immigration plan asking that they meet with ICE officers. One of those on the letter was Mark Zuckerberg, who has invested considerable time and money to get proposed legislation like the Gang of Eight bill signed into law. Mr. Zuckerberg ignored the letter and meeting request from ICE law enforcement and instead met with illegal immigrants. We respectfully renew our request to meet with Mr. Zuckerberg and share firsthand the knowledge and experience of ICE officers and agents who witness every day the negative impact to public safety that occurs because ICE officers are prohibited from enforcing the nation’s immigration laws. The first question I would ask Mr. Zuckerberg would be: why did you support a bill, S. 744, which legalizes aliens with extensive criminal records, including sex offenders, gang members and other violent and dangerous criminal aliens? Until Mr. Zuckerberg meets with officers and learns the truth about our immigration system, I would respectfully suggest he suspend his lobbying activities," President of the National ICE Council Chris Crane said in a statement in response to Zuckerberg's interview.
House Speaker John Boehner has hinted at some kind of movement on immigration reform early next year, but has declared massive pieces of comprehensive legislation like the Senate's Gang of 8 bill, aren't going to fly.
