Jeff Bezos plans to fund $33 million in DACA scholarships
Over the past few years, Amazon has been rapidly expanding, making headlines left and right. And today, January 12th, the company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, is making headlines for announcing plans to donate scholarship money to former beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, otherwise known as Dreamers.
A $33 million grant made by Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, will help 1,000 undocumented high school students. Bezos donated the money to TheDream.Us, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Dreamers attend college. According to the organization’s website, each student who participates in the program is gifted a maximum $33,000 over the course of four years. Bezos’s grant is the largest donation the charity has ever received.
Bezos said in a statement to TheDream.Us that his father was an immigrant who arrived in the United States as a 16-year-old 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,” Bezos said. “MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help today’s Dreamers by funding these scholarships.”
Thank you, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, for the biggest grant in our history. Because of you, 1000 #DREAMers will be able to go to college https://t.co/F6W1pgloOH
— TheDream.US (@thedream_us) January 12, 2018
With a net worth of more than $105 billion, Bezos is the richest person in the world. But the billionaire has been planning ways to donate his money for a while. In June he posted a tweet asking his followers to give him ideas for his “philanthropy strategy.”
Request for ideas… pic.twitter.com/j6D68mhseL
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 15, 2017
Bezos was also among 400 executives who signed an open letter in September urging the White House not to eliminate DACA. But despite opposition, the Trump administration ended DACA in September, and Congress has been attempting to draft a bipartisan replacement since then. Although President Donald Trump said he would be open to a “bill of love” to replace DACA, he rejected the latest bill on January 11th.
We’re glad to see Bezos putting his wealth to good use. Investing in Dreamers means that thousands of students who might not be able to afford college can get an education, and that’s a huge deal. We’re looking forward to seeing the many other ways Bezos — and Dreamers — will change the world.
