Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly severed ties with a pro-immigration group he had once backed and helped launch over a decade ago, Bloomberg reported.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropy founded by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, ended its relationship with FWD.us (pronounced ‘Forward US’) earlier this year. The move comes as his philanthropy has shown retreat from political advocacy and narrowed its focus to science amid US President Donald Trump’s return to power.
FWD.us left without Zuckerberg’s funding
The split has left the immigration and criminal justice reform group without funding from Zuckerberg, Chan or CZI for the first time since its founding in 2013, New York Post reported.
The group, in fact, received no funding from Zuckerberg, Chan or CZI in 2025, Bloomberg reported.
Jordan Fox, CZI’s chief of staff, has also stepped down from FWD.us’ board, leaving the group without any active representative from Zuckerberg’s philanthropy for the first time in its history.
The separation became formal in April, when FWD.us removed CZI from its internal bylaws, according to a tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service seen by Bloomberg News.
Since its founding, more than half of the roughly $400 million donated to FWD.us flowed through Zuckerberg’s philanthropic vehicles, according to filings.
While Zuckerberg did step down from FWD.us’ board in 2018, as Facebook came under mounting scrutiny over data privacy and election interference, he continued funding the group through 2024.
Is there a change in Zuckerberg’s stance?
The move closes a chapter for Zuckerberg, who had positioned himself as a leading corporate voice in favour of immigration reform for years, especially policies benefiting immigrants working in technology.
It also comes as Zuckerberg has made sweeping changes across both Meta Platforms Inc. and his philanthropic empire following Trump’s re-election.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg dismantled diversity programs at Meta and oversaw changes to the company’s hate speech policies that now allow exclusionary and “insulting language” in the context of immigration. Zuckerberg had also fired as many as 20 Meta employees who leaked this information to media outlets, AOL reported.
His philanthropy has also been winding down social advocacy funding and eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) team, several reports stated.