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Tech companies lobbies all the time for tax reform, patent reform. But usually, it's in the form of big checks and quiet back room meetings.

Immigration was different the issue where business leaders decided to ally with Latino community groups and labor unions. And now that President Obama has issued an executive action, the tech sector is sorting out its next steps.

Love Song Goes Quiet

For a while, it seemed, Silicon Valley and Washington DC were singing each other a love song.

In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama said America needs foreign technology workers to stay here and build multi-billion-dollar businesses. He cited an iconic leader: "[We] should support everyone who's willing to work, and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs."

Meanwhile, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg started giving his own campaign speeches, not just for visas to hire more foreign software engineers, but also for tomato pickers and dishwashers. He bridged the deep divide between blue- and white-collar lobbies.

He even recruited CEO friends from LinkedIn and DropBox to form the lobbying start-up Fwd.us and said about the new undertaking: "I was really heartened to see just how easy it was to get so many of the leaders [of] a lot of the great companies out here to sign on to support not just the issues that would benefit their companies, but full comprehensive immigration reform."

But after the President's latest speech on immigration, it sounds like there's less love in the air.

Zuckerberg did not applaud the move to grant temporary visas to 4 or 5 million immigrants. In his own Facebook page, he announced the speech, but then stayed silent about its contents. The interim chief of Fwd.us, Todd Schulte, says the action was a step in the right direction but "we all agree we have to keep our eye on the ball. Legislation is the ultimate prize."

The company Facebook issued a cautious statement: "We look forward to hearing more specifics about the President's plan and how it will impact the skills gap that threatens the competitiveness of the tech sector." Similarly, Yahoo says it's reviewing the details. Meanwhile companies that are typically outspoken on immigration policy, including Google and Microsoft, did not comment.

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Action On Immigration Meets Silence, Skepticism In Silicon Valley