Photo by yashmori used under Creative Commons license. Activists staged a mock Thanksgiving at House Speaker John Boehner's house early Wednesday morning on November 20 to call for immigration reform. The empty place settings represent family members deported and absent due to US immigration policy.
FWD.US Sponsors Hackathon for DREAMers
Fwd.us, an organization started by technology leaders (including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg) to keep America "competitive in a global economy" by promoting immigration reform, education reform, and support for scientific research, is sponsoring a 24-hour Hackathon for DREAMers at the LinkedIn headquarters in Silicon Valley. According to the organization website, the Hackathon (which begins today) will pair up the undocumented immigrants with experienced mentors to "build tools to advance our advocacy efforts, creating projects and applications to help supporters share stories, contact members of Congress, and show family and friends why they supporting meaningful immigration reform."
In their pursuit of immigration reform ("I think this is one of the biggest civil rights issue of our time." Zuckerberg says at the Hackathon), Fwd.us is not without controversy. The LA Times reported:
Mark Zuckerberg is being unfriended by progressives angered by television ads from his political advocacy group Fwd.us that praise lawmakers for supporting the expansion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
There is a live video feed of the Hackathon and it's on Twitter at #DREAMerHack.