U.S. technology companies spend a lot of money to lobby for immigration reform

U.S. technology companies spend a lot of money to lobby for immigration reform. Seven major technology companies and a software association each spent more than $1 million to lobby in Washington in the first quarter of this year, trying to...

Seven major technology companies and a software association each spent more than $1 million to lobby in Washington in the first quarter of this year, trying to promote the immigration reform legislation being debated in Congress.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California on March 7 this year. (AP file photo)

According to "USA Today", they invested a total of US$13.8 million, while the National Council of La Raza, which has long supported immigration reform, invested US$80,000 during the same period, which is negligible. Their input is part of the tech industry's push to form an immigration reform bill in the Senate that would dramatically expand the number of temporary visas and green cards available to foreign workers.

The report mentioned that the companies that have increased their investment the most include Facebook. The company spent $2.45 million on lobbying in the first quarter of this year, compared with $650,000 in the same period last year and $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

While spending money on lobbying, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has rallied Silicon Valley's wealthiest people - including Microsoft founder Bill Zitz and Google chairman Eric Schmidt - to support the nonprofit FWD.us's efforts to promote immigration reform.

To mitigate resistance, Zuckerberg also established two affiliated organizations with vaguely named, patriotic connotations – Americans for a Conservative Direction and the Council for American Job Growth – to appeal to conservative, liberal and independent voters.

Conservatives are advertising in six states with Americans, using Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, one of the "Gang of Eight" on immigration reform in the Senate, as their spokesperson to promote provisions for strengthening border security. Another ad supports South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another member of the Senate "Gang of Eight".

Its sister organization ran ads in Alaska praising Senator Mark Begich's economic achievements. Begich is not part of the Gang of Eight, but he was the most vulnerable Democratic congressman in the 2014 midterm elections.

The Senate’s immigration reform bill would change the way the federal government issues visas and green cards, and the technology industry would benefit greatly.

Currently, most green cards are given to people who have family relationships with U.S. citizens. In 2012, only 14% of immigrants—about 144,000 people—received green cards through employment. The Senate bill would increase employment-based green card quotas to about 50%.

Previous reports said that the immigration reform bill of the Senate will disqualify brothers and sisters of adult citizens from immigrating to the United States. Among them, people from China and India have been hardest hit. Every year, 11,000 people from China immigrate to the United States through relatives of American brothers and sisters; 9,000 people from India immigrate to the United States every year.

Currently, the United States gives citizens’ brothers and sisters an annual immigration quota of 65,000 people. According to figures from the U.S. State Department, among the 65,000 people who obtained green cards in fiscal year 2011, 11,000 were Chinese, accounting for about one-sixth; there were 9,000 people from India. The

bill provides an 18-month buffer period. The sibling immigration category will be eliminated 18 months after the new law takes effect. The bill also allows such brothers and sisters to visit the United States for 60 days per year.