Mark Zuckerberg and George Soros have a lot in common, such as hatred for Western civilization.
Zuckerberg immigration group launches 2016 reform blitz
Fwd.us is renewing its push to overhaul immigration laws after a failed effort two years ago.
The Mark Zuckerberg-backed group that spent tens of millions on a failed bid for immigration reform is reigniting its efforts for the 2016 election.
Fwd.us is launching a multi-pronged campaign that could spend as much as $10 million over the next year on digital and TV ads, research and polling, according to plans first shared with POLITICO. The initiative includes an expansion of its ground operation into 12 states, focusing on presidential battlegrounds and targeted House seats held by Republicans.
The push comes as GOP front-runner Donald Trump has campaigned on mass deportations and building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border. After the terrorist attacks in Paris, Trump called the Obama administration’s plan to allow Syrian refugees in the country “insane.” GOP 2016 hopefuls like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ben Carson have followed suit.
Fwd.us is looking to counter the anti-immigration reform rhetoric in the GOP primary and lay the groundwork for an overhaul of the country’s immigration laws in early 2017 once the next president takes office. Formed in 2013 by tech giants including Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and Eric Schmidt, among others, the group accounted for 75 percent of all paid media spent in 2013 and 2014 to support immigration reform and had field operations in 29 states and 149 target House districts at the peak of the debate.
“It’s a good time to inform people of the stakes,” said Rob Jesmer, a veteran Republican political operative and campaign manager at Fwd.us. “There is a lot of focus on one candidate, frankly,” he added of Trump, “(but) there are several who are out of the mainstream. … From a policy situation if we nominate any of those people we are going to lose. No two ways about it.”
