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Zuckerberg criticizes Trump's executive orders on immigration

The Facebook CEO takes to his social network to speak out against the president's anti-immigration policies.

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Alfred Ng
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Alfred Ng Senior Reporter / CNET News
Alfred Ng was a senior reporter for CNET News. He was raised in Brooklyn and previously worked on the New York Daily News's social media and breaking news teams.
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Mark Zuckerberg took to Facebook to criticize Trump's executive orders on Friday.

James Martin/CNET

Donald Trump's not going to "like" this.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his social network on Friday to call out the president's recent executive orders, focusing on Trump's anti-immigration policies.

In Trump's first week in the White House, he's signed executive orders to push forward his plans for a wall along the US border with Mexico, withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and block refugees from nations like Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Zuckerberg, who is totally not running for president, criticized Trump's actions by saying the US is a "nation of immigrants." He shared that his great-grandparents came to the US from Germany, Austria and Poland, while wife Priscilla Chan's parents were refugees from China and Vietnam.

"Like many of you, I'm concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Friday. "We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat."

He urged Trump to keep the US' doors open to refugees. "Had we turned away refugees a few decades ago, Priscilla's family wouldn't be here today."

Zuckerberg said he taught a class at a middle school a few years ago and that some of his best students were "undocumented." "They are our future too," he said. The Facebook CEO also appreciated that Trump announced he'd find a solution for 750,000 immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program under the DREAM Act.

Trump and Facebook's top execs haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye. Despite the olive branch Trump offered during his tech summit, Facebook's bosses are still keeping their distance from the commander in chief.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was at that summit in December, sharply criticized Trump on Thursday, after his executive order to cut funding for international health groups that perform abortions or provide any information about the procedure.

The Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump, who prefers to share his thoughts on Twitter, has yet to comment on Zuckerberg or Sandberg's remarks.

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