Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is fighting for changes to U.S. immigration policy — and encouraging those on Facebook to call their congressional leaders to do the same.
Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page Wednesday in support of Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, but are protected from deportation through a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
That program is set to end, though some elected officials are hoping to use pressure from a looming government shutdown to try to renew the program or find a similar solution.
“Every day that Congress doesn’t act more DACA recipients are losing their status,” Zuckerberg wrote Wednesday. “This is a basic question of whether our government works. Can Congress come together and find a path forward, or will we default to forcing almost one million people out of their jobs and country?”
Zuckerberg added that he’s been “calling members of Congress,” and encouraged others to do the same.
Immigration has always been a major issue for Zuckerberg. He co-founded FWD.us, an immigration-focused lobbying group, and has donated money to college funds for undocumented students in the past. Back in September, he posted a Facebook Live video from his home with three undocumented immigrants, sharing their stories and answering viewer questions.
Zuckerberg isn’t the only big-time tech executive taking an interest in Dreamers. His counterpart at Facebook, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, also posted on Wednesday shortly after Zuckerberg, calling the expiration of the DACA program “cruel.”
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, who has historically been very quiet when it comes to philanthropy or social issues, also donated $33 millionjust last week to help fund college scholarships for undocumented students.