Zuckerberg criticizes Trump on immigration

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized President Trump’s executive orders on immigration Friday in a carefully worded statement.

“Like many of you, I’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post.

“We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat. Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.”

{mosads}Zuckerberg posted his message shortly after Trump signed an executive order to establish “new vetting measures” for refugees meant to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S.

Trump also signed orders this week to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to withhold federal money from “sanctuary” cities that do not enforce immigration laws.

The remarks from Zuckerberg are likely to add to the speculation that he may be plotting a run for the White House himself.

Such talk has intensified in recent weeks given the Facebook founder’s increasing role in political conversations.

Zuckerberg’s post offered some praise for other aspects of Trump’s immigration policy, including Trump’s vague promise to not deport “Dreamers,” the young people brought to the country illegally as children and protected from deportation by a program implemented under former President Barack Obama.

“That said, I was glad to hear President Trump say he’s going to ‘work something out’ for Dreamers — immigrants who were brought to this country at a young age by their parents,” he wrote. “I’m also glad the President believes our country should continue to benefit from ‘people of great talent coming into the country.'”

Unlike many of his Silicon Valley counterparts, Zuckerberg remained publicly neutral during the 2016 campaign. He has also made strides to make Facebook appear unbiased after taking flack during the campaign from the right over allegations of biased treatment and criticism from the left over the platform’s dissemination of fake news.

Figures at the company are getting increasingly vocal about Trump.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg aired her concerns on Thursday over a separate Trump policy banning U.S. aid to global health programs that offer abortion counseling.

Fwd.us, an immigration advocacy group that Zuckerberg was instrumental in founding, took a more straightforward tone in responding to Trump’s recent orders.

“Unfortunately, this order sets the stage for a large-scale ramp up in deportations by no longer distinguishing between dangerous felons and an undocumented mother working to provide for her U.S. citizen children,” Fwd.us president Todd Schulte said in statement.

“Diverting resources away from violent criminals would make us less safe and break apart families by removing from our country some of best and brightest workers, students and members of every community.”

Updated: 5:51 p.m.