Immigration Reform 2013: Silicon Valley To Pressure House Republicans To Act On Immigration Legislation

Battles over the debt ceiling have left their mark on debates over immigration reform, with some of the House of Representatives' Republican majority saying supporters of reform can forget about compromise between the GOP's most conservative members and Democrats who seek a path to citizenship for many of the nation's undocumented immigrants and more visas for workers from abroad. But Silicon Valley isn't ready to give up: tech CEOs and lobby groups are preparing a renewed campaign to pressure House Republicans to vote on a comprehensive bill on the issue before the end of 2013, according to the Hill.

As might be expected, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who also founded and heads the pro-immigration-reform lobby group FWD.us, is spearheading one of most important initiatives in the campaign. On November 20-21, Zuckerberg's FWD.us and a host of other tech CEOs - including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Groupon founder Andrew Mason - are hosting an event at the LinkedIn campus at Mountain View dubbed the "DREAMer Hackathon". Young undocumented immigrants accepted to participate in the event will learn how to "create a project or application that could help supporters share stories, contact members of Congress or show family and friends why they want meaningful immigration reform", as more experienced engineers and product designers help them write the code to do it. Zuckerberg and company say they're trying to return the spotlight to the issue at a time when it's most urgent.

Zuckerberg's immigration lobby group has also sponsored a trip planned for next week which is expected to bring about 200 representatives from a diverse coalition of groups to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers, especially House Republicans, about the need for immigration reform, according to the Hill. That group includes reps from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bibles Badges and Businesses, and the Partnership for a New American Economy, an advocacy group co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, among others.

"Despite the public perception of immigration reform being dead or on the back burner, we believe there's an opportunity to make progress this calendar year," said Peter Muller, director of government relations at Intel. "We think there is an opportunity - there's a chance - for bills to move to the floor and be considered by the House in the next month or two, and that's the final step to getting us to a final product."

RELATED: Senator Marco Rubio Accuses Obama Of 'Undermining" Immigration Reform Efforts