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  • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Contributes $33 Million to ‘Dreamers’ Scholarships

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Contributes $33 Million to ‘Dreamers’ Scholarships

    Multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos certainly knows how to spend his money where it counts. Along with wife MacKenzie, the Amazon CEO—who was recently declared the world’s richest man—gave away $33 million on Friday to help fund the scholarships for Dreamers, immigrant youths who arrived in the US without proper documentation.

    Mr. Bezos’ donation will go directly to TheDream.US, an organization which aims to help Dreamers get a college degree. The organization provides scholarships to highly qualified immigrants who have DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status as well as those who are under TPS (Temporary Protected Status) which allows them to legally work in the US.

    The Amazon CEO’s $33 million donation will help fund the scholarships of 1,000 Dreamers. Each student will receive a total of $33,000 over four years, which will help pay for their tuition, books and other fees. At the moment, around 2,500 students are studying with the help of TheDream.US program.

    DACA was put in place during the Obama administration with the end goal of preventing those who entered the U.S. illegally as minors from being deported. However, the Trump administration does not want the program to continue, a move that will affect around 700,000 Dreamers. They will have until March 5 before the Department of Homeland Security declares their permits expired.

    The Dreamers, however,  have remained steadfast over the issue. On Jan. 9, they scored a small victory when a San Francisco federal judge challenged the Trump administration’s decision on DACA and temporarily blocked steps to end the program.

    To Bezos, fighting for immigrants’ rights is a more personal issue as his adopted father is a Cuban immigrant.

    “My dad came to the U.S. when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan,” Bezos explained. “He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination—and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware—my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways.”

    But $33 million is not really that much of a big deal for Bezos. Recent news reports estimated his net worth at $105.1 billion, which not only makes him the world’s richest man, but also the richest person of all time.

    Bezo’s fortune had breached the $100 billion mark last November but fell after just a day. However, less than a week into 2018, his net worth went up by $6.1 billion due to a 6 percent rise in shares of Amazon stock.

    Meanwhile, the rank of the second richest man Bill Gates remains steady at around $90 billion. In fact, reports say that if Gates wasn’t so charitable, he would have remained in the number one spot with a net worth of around $150 billion.

    [Featured image via YouTube]

  • Rand Paul Drops Burger, Runs From Immigrants

    Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was at a fundraiser in Okoboji, Iowa, sitting down to eat next to Rep. Steve King of Iowa. A young lady named Erika Andiola and some other activists approached the table where King and Paul were sitting and handed King a card. It was her DACA card, her documentation that allows her to stay in the U.S. for two years, though she is not legally a citizen.

    A DACA card is document issued under the orders of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order. The order, issued by President Obama, is a point of fiery contention for some in Congress, including Steve King. King supported a bill in the House to end DACA.

    According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website, the purpose of DACA is to allow law enforcement to focus their efforts on “the removal of individuals who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety.” By allowing people who meet certain criteria to stay within the U.S. without fear of deportation, DACA helps ensure that the “DHS will exercise prosecutorial discretion as appropriate to ensure that enforcement resources are not expended on low priority cases, such as individuals who came to the United States as children and meet other key guidelines.”

    But Steve King did not see it that way. He believes that DACA provides a portal for drug smuggling into the United States. King asserts that for every DACA participant who does well in school “there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they have calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

    Erika Andiola was there at the fundraiser, standing over King and Rand Paul’s table, to confront King about statements he had made. Rand Paul, whom many Republicans hope will get into the 2016 presidential fray, shook the hands of the activists standing at his table, took a bite from his burger, and ran off like he suddenly remember someplace he needed to be.

    The GOP has publicly stated that they must start ingratiating themselves to Hispanics in some way if they are to have a prayer of winning the White House again, ever.

    According to the Census Bureau, the long-standing white majority in America will be gone by 2043. In fact, Latinos are set to replace whites as the largest ethnic group in California this year.

    If Rand Paul were to take the bait of a confrontation from immigrant activists, anything he said would likely be on YouTube before the day was over and come back to haunt him in any number of elections to come. In fact, the exchange with King did make it to YouTube.

    Maybe in Rand Paul’s case, eat and run was the best choice. But what that really translates to is that his true feelings on immigration would be bound to alienate someone, either his current voter base, or the base he hopes to attract for the future.

    Image via YouTube