This week, the University of Texas at Austin chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas made headlines when news outlets picked up on a game the organization had created called Catch an Illegal Immigrant.
According to NPR, “’Any UT student who catches one of these ‘illegal immigrants’ and brings them back to our table will receive a $25 gift card,’ the group wrote on its Facebook page. ‘The purpose of this event is to spark a campuswide discussion about the issue of illegal immigration, and how it affects our everyday lives.’”
The game was swiftly canceled after UT President Bill Powers released a statement regarding Young Conservatives’ plans to play on campus.
“As Americans, we should always visualize our Statue of Liberty and remember that our country was built on the strength of immigration. Our nation continues to grapple with difficult questions surrounding immigration,” he wrote. “I ask YCT to be part of that discussion but to find more productive and respectful ways to do so that do not demean their fellow students.”
The students of UT reacted to the club’s poorly planned “awareness” campaign with outrage. One student quoted in the NPR article described it as “classless, childish and racist.”
Yikes. What is it about college campuses, which are supposed to be hotbeds of progressive thought and action, that lets students believe this kind of insensitive behavior is OK? The actions of this particular chapter of Young Conservatives are even more despicable considering undocumented students are allowed to enroll at UT. Imagine you are a young man or woman who made good grades in high school and studies hard in college only to be mocked by your fellow students?
The level of ignorance displayed by YCT is truly astounding. “Catching” an “illegal immigrant” and trading them in for a gift card does nothing to raise awareness of an issue or open a rational discussion — it only alienates other students and provides a shallow, wholly unrealistic portrayal of the way immigration works in this country.
Perhaps it isn’t simple ignorance, however. The game could have been a calculated effort to shame undocumented students and contribute to an exclusionary campus culture.
It’s also ironic that YCT would attach themselves so publicly to a poorly planned awareness campaign on illegal immigration so close to Thanksgiving — which basically commemorates the beginning of illegal immigration in America.
What the members of YCT — and people who wear blackface makeup — don’t recognize is that they have the privilege of removing the “illegal immigrant” sign once the game is over. For undocumented students who are simply trying to earn an education and a better life for their families, the unfair stigma remains, and it’s hardly a game. Provocative stunts like Catch an Illegal Immigrant never open intelligent conversations. They offend hardworking students, embarrass the university and reflect badly on conservatives as a whole.
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 11/20/2013 under the headline "Stars at night are big and racist: UT cancels game"
