Zuckerberg Answers Immigration Critics on Facebook

Founder Mark Zuckerberg posted answers to critics of his push for immigration reform on his Facebook page Wednesday, saying, "It's definitely not just about tech immigration." 

Zuckerberg, who is followed by 18.3 million people on Facebook, launched a video from his political advocacy group FWD.us, according to TechCrunch. The video sparked thousands of comments ranging from critical to positive.

Most of the criticism seemed to center around the idea that Zuckerberg's push for immigration form was based on finding engineers for the Silicon Valley tech sector. "This group is focused on getting full immigration reform passed. H1Bs [temporary highly-skilled work visas] are just one part of that, but they're far from the full solution," he wrote to a critic. He also said that his group was also trying make sure the 11 million undocumented people in the United States were "treated fairly."

Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley bigwigs signed a letter to Congress and the president in March asking for immigration reform. The letter and lobbying Congress makes sense for tech companies looking to fill engineering or programming jobs provided there aren't enough American candidates --but is that the case? Zuckerberg and the others are battling public perception that immigration reform is just an easy way for tech companies to score cheaper foreign engineers. While that's a goal in the short-term, what does it mean for long-term employment in the tech sector and the country?

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