Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, is urging lawmakers to pass immigration reform and thanked members of Congress for bringing a bill to the floor that would create a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants known as “Dreamers.”
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Bezos wrote that his father came to the U.S. from Cuba alone at the age of 16 and succeeded because of “grit, determination, and the support and kindness” of Americans.
“I’m hopeful that policymakers will come together to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and prioritize more commonsense immigration reforms like reducing the green card backlog,” Bezos wrote. “Families across America deserve this.”
The American Dream and Promise Act is one of two immigration reform bills Democrats are expected to push forward this week. Immigration has been a highly partisan issue for years, and Democrats face a tall task getting anything passed. They have a narrow majority in the House and only control the Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris can break a 50-50 tie.
Bezos was an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Following the Muslim ban in 2017, he told employees that Amazon was considering legal options and said “this executive order is one we do not support.”
Here’s the text of Bezos’s Instagram post:
“I want to thank the Congressional leaders who will bring Dreamers legislation to the House floor tomorrow. My dad was a “Dreamer” before there was such a thing. He was 16 when he came to America, all by himself, from Cuba. He didn’t speak English and didn’t have an easy path. What he did have was grit, determination, and the support and kindness of people here in the U.S. who helped him. He received a scholarship to college in Albuquerque, where he met my mom. On behalf of my dad and families like mine, I’m hopeful that policymakers will come together to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and prioritize more commonsense immigration reforms like reducing the green card backlog. Families across America deserve this.”