Mark Zuckerbergs Nonprofit Cuts Ties With Immigration Advocacy Group He Co Founded Behold Mark Zuckerberg man of principle Witness the Meta CEOs dedication to the most highminded of causes currying favor with whoever is in charge In 2013 when Barack Obama was president Zuckerberg cofounded FWDus a proimmigration advocacy group For years he vocally supported providing paths to citizenship for the most talented and hardestworking people no matter where they were born Now in 2025 with Donald Trump back in power and pushing draconian immigration policies Zuckerbergs philanthropy organization has officially cut ties with the group Who says Big Tech executives do not stand for anything On Friday Bloomberg reported on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative CZI severing its ties with FWDus Zuckerbergs group provided no funding to the advocacy group for the first time this year Up to that point over half of the roughly 400 million donated to the nonprofit since 2013 had come from CZI In addition CZIs chief of staff Jordan Fox resigned from the FWDus board No one else at CZI will fill the vacant slot another first for the proimmigration and justice reform advocacy group In a statement a spokesperson for CZI said the change had been in the works for several years Nearly five years ago we shared that we were focusing on our core work in science education and supporting our local communities the spokesperson said As part of that transition we committed foundational funding to FWDus to continue their bipartisan work We have fulfilled that financial commitment and wound down our social advocacy funding She added that the couples Biohub initiative is currently their primary philanthropy In late 2024 Zuckerberg met with Trump adviser Stephen Miller who reacts to brownskinned humans being sent to foreign gulags the way my dog responds to a juicy steak Among other topics during the exchange Miller reportedly questioned Zuckerbergs ties to FWDus Apparently his words resonated with Zuckerbergs principles In January before Trump was sworn in for his second term Meta unleashed an overhaul that reads like a Miller wishlist The company ended its diversity equity and inclusion DEI programs That same month it ditched thirdparty factcheckers calling them too politically biased It also changed its policies to allow for insulting language on topics of immigration and LGBTQ issues The company even added Trump backer Dana White to its board It fits a broader pattern of Big Tech bending the knee to Trump We are in the middle of a pretty rapidly changing policy and regulatory landscape that views any policy that might advantage any one group of people over another as something that is unlawful Zuckerberg told the New York Times in January Because of that we and every other institution out there are going to need to adjust We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad Zuckerberg said in a January investor call I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock so this is going to be a big year What a big year indeed Now witness the contrasting words of one of Zuckerbergs chief rivals in Silicon Valley When you meet these immigrant children who are really talented and they have grown up in America and they really do not know any other country besides that but they do not have the opportunities that we all enjoy it is really heartbreaking right the tech executive said That seems like it is one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time That rival of course was Obamaera Mark Zuckerberg in 2013 Despite the funding setback thanks to our principled hero FWDus will press forward We are thankful to our donors past and present and so grateful to the many new donors who have stepped up in the past few years and particularly the influx of new supporters we have seen this year FWDus President Todd Schulte said in a statement This allows us to fight for immigrants under attack today and to build a better approach to immigration and criminal justice reform for many many years to come
