Jeff Bezos donates $33 million to a scholarship for Dreamers

Time magazine recently had an interesting article titled: ” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just gave $33 million to a scholarship fund for dreamers.”

The article states that “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, have donated $33 million to a scholarship fund for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children — the biggest grant in the organization’s history.

The Dream.US is the largest scholarship program in the country for participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA), who are often called Dreamers. The scholarship helps Dreamers who might otherwise be unable to afford college. ”

“Bezos — whose net worth is $108 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — is now the world’s richest person. His donation will fund college scholarships for 1,000 DACA recipients, The Dream.US said Friday.”

“The donation comes as Congress tries to negotiate a bipartisan solution for DACA recipients after the Trump Administration ended the program last year. The White House said Thursday that no deal has been reached yet.

Candy Marshall, president of TheDream.US, called Bezos’ donation a “magnificent gift.”

“It is a shot in the arm for Dreamer students at a time when some are questioning whether they should be in the United States at all,” she said in a statement. “We would invite anyone who questions the value of Dreamers to please come meet some of our students.”

The deadlines to apply for the two types of scholarships offered by TheDream.US are Jan. 23 and March 1.” (Click on these links for more information about the scholarships.”

I do believe that one day Congress and the President will be able to pass comprehensive immigration reform in this area.  Until that day happens this is at least one bit of good news.

According to the Washington Post, Bezos will be donating $2 billion dollars overall (this is the initial commitment) to create what he called the Day One Fund.  ” This fund will focus on providing help to homeless families and preschools for low-income communities…”  You can read the Washington Post article here.

 

Attorney Lawrence Gruner is a Sacramento immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience handling immigration cases.  He may be reached at 916-760-7270 or 888-801-6558.  He would be happy to consult with you about your immigration case.