As Californians Flee Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Heads to Idaho
According to reports, Facebook (META) is set to build a massive $800 million new data center in Idaho and set to break ground on the 960,000 square-foot facility in September. The project is planned to be completed by 2025.
Idaho Senator, Jim Risch, welcomed META (Facebook) to Kuna, as the tech-giant announces an $800M data center in the Treasure Valley.
The Senator, who has taken donations from Facebook in the past, said that “the opening of this new data center in Kuna will provide hardworking Idahoans with good-paying jobs and new opportunities to fuel Idaho’s continued success.”
“The creation of new jobs is of utmost importance in a community growing as rapidly as the Treasure Valley,” said Senator Jim Risch.
Residents of Kuna, however, were less than pleased with the development, stating they are “sad to see our small town disappear.”
This comes as Facebook/META’s Manager of Community Development, Jeren A. Miles, was allegedly caught in an amateur child sex sting posted to Youtube.
Miles, an apparent LGBTQ activist, serving on the board of directors for Equality California, has subsequently deleted all of his social media accounts after the allegations.
Idaho Senator, Jim Risch, took in donations from the tech-giant, Facebook, during his 2020 campaign.
“Everything will go up,” says Ruben Juarez on Facebook, adding “housing, property tax rental, land value, everything.”
Residents also fear that during times of drought, the data center, which needs to process roughly 1.7 million gallons of water to operate, will severely affect the small town, where residents’ water has historically been a concern.
As Idaho wrestles with rising housing costs due to an influx of conservative political refugees from California, the corporations that helped turn California blue follow suit, sparking concern for the long-time red state.
Both of Idaho’s senators, James Risch and Mike Crapo, recently joined Senate Democrats to demand President Joe Biden import more H-2B foreign visa workers.
Last week, 17 Senate Republicans signed a letter with Senate Democrats urging Biden to “release the maximum allowable number of additional” H-2B foreign visa workers to inflate the labor market.
Biden was also asked by the Senators to speed up the process so US companies can access foreign workers quicker, and deploy them into blue-collar American jobs, often in construction, landscaping, the tourism industry, and other occupations.
The 17 Republicans who signed the letter are:
- Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
- Mike Rounds (R-SD)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- James Risch (R-ID)
- Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
- Roy Blunt (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Mike Crapo (R-ID)
- John Thune (R-SD)
- Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Pat Toomey (R-PA)
- Roger Wicker (R-MS)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Rand Paul (R-KY)
- John Barrasso (R-WY)
- Tim Scott (R-SC)
In August of last year, hundreds of the world’s most powerful people in tech, media, and finance made their way to Sun Valley, Idaho, to attend an exclusive conference organized by Allen & Company.
Known as the annual “summer camp for billionaires,” Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, and hundreds of others gathered for outdoor activities and plenty of dealmaking.
Many Idaho residents are wondering why their supposed representatives are not only in favor of more immigration into the country, but also seem to be in favor of the great migration of massive tech companies and social media execs into their state.
