Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Delves Into Politics With FWD.us

Anyone with a Facebook account has seen their News Feed flooded with political posts from friends, but users could soon be liking and sharing posts from Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg has joined other internet big shots in a new Silicon Valley-based political lobby group called FWD.us – or, Forward U.S. The group’s first major focus will be on efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform. It’s not a surprising issue for tech giants to concern themselves with considering the boom in their industry. With more highly skilled workers being required every year, tech firms want to see an increase in the number of H-1B temporary visas for foreign workers and a shortened waiting time for green cards.

Zuckerberg expressed his frustration with United States immigration policy after a recent meeting with a middle school student who is unsure about his future because of his immigration status.

“We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants,” he wrote in a Washington Post o-ed on Wednesday. “And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world.”

Other major contributors to FWD.us and its efforts include Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn; John Deorr, a backer of Google and Amazon.com; Marissa Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo!; and Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google.

Some familiar names in politics are also involved in FWD.us. One example is Dan Senor, a Bush White House veteran who also served as chief adviser on Paul Ryan’s 2012 vice presidential team.

It is not currently clear what other issues the group hopes to tackle, but with backing from social media king Zuckerberg and other tech heavyweights, it’s safe to say that we’ll be hearing much more from FWD.us in the future.