Believe it or not, there was an
event scheduled for last Wednesday called “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” at
University of Texas at Austin. The Young Conservatives of Texas, a group of
college students at University of Texas, planned to have people walking around
the campus with “Illegal Immigrant” on their clothing. Any student to catch one
of these people would win a $25 gift card. The group said the purpose of this
event was to start a campus-wide discussion about the topic of illegal
immigrants but they had to cancel the event when the school threatened to expel
any participants.
This event reminded me of a picture
in a Zine by Billy Dee that we looked at in my American Studies class last
week.
This picture had the caption “The
Prison Industrial Complex criminalizes immigrants”. We learned in class that
this means that immigrants are often being arrested and contained in prisons
until they are deported back to their home countries. Since the object of the
game was to “catch an immigrant”, isn’t it doing the same thing as the Prison
Industrial Complex?
The connection you made between this "catch an immigrant" game and the prison industrial complex is very interesting. I think the fact that these two things are so much related says something about how ingrained the prison industrial complex is in American culture. With this example, I think it shows how many Americans look at the prison industrial complex as a game and do not realize what a serious issue it is. Although we learned from the Billy Dee slideshow that the prison industrial complex tears families apart, targets certain people, and much more, we still see people taking an aspect of the prison industrial complex, illegal immigration, and making a joke out of it. Many Americans are not aware of the harm of the prison industrial complex and the impact it has on many people's lives.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this game that these students were playing is absolutely horrible. It is essentially mocking a serious issue and I think it really says something about the people who were involved with the game. I agree with you that it is similar to the PIC, but I don't think it is as simple as the game makes it seem. When someone is deported, not only are their lives affected, but if they have children or are part of a family that resides here, that family is now missing a piece. When we deport people, rarely do we think about the extended consequences of it on other people. It is not just the life of the deported person that is affected; many other people are harmed in the process as well. The source said that the object of the game was to start a discussion, but I do not see how that is possible because by participating in the game, you are already showing which side of the discussion you are on. The purpose of the game, in my mind, is to brainwash people into thinking that deporting immigrants is a good thing.
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