A conservative organization at the University of Texas at Austin has rescinded their plans to play a "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game," amid criticism from policymakers and threats of expulsion from the school's administration.
The Young Conservatives of Texas announced on Tuesday that they would not be playing the game, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, after campus officials said that the plans stood directly against the school's policy. The group was slated to give members signs that read "illegal immigrants" to wear while walking around campus. Students who could catch these members and return them to the Young Conservatives of Texas table would receive $25 gift cards.
Chairman Lorenzo Garcia admitted that the plan was "over the top," but stated that he and his peers should "not be silenced when they attempt to make their voices heard about an issue that is so important to our futures," he wrote in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.
"I believed that our event would spark this discussion on campus," he wrote. "I hope that the publicity surrounding the event will create debate among students."
Several other on-campus organizations, including the Librotraficantes, a Latino activist group that backs open immigration policies, said that they intended to protest the game by handing out bunches of free "illegal immigrant" signs to students so they could get the $25 gift cards.
University Vice President for Diversity Gregory Vincent told the Associated Press he'd advised the students that anyone who played the game had a right to exercise freedom of speech, but it would be "to the detriment of others."
"The YCT is contributing to an environment of exclusion and disrespect among our students, faculty and staff by sending the message that certain students do not belong on our campus," Vincent wrote in a statement. "If the members of YCT carry out their plan...they are willfully ignoring the honor code and contributing to the degradation of our campus culture."
Texas Democrats criticized the group for putting Garcia, who recently worked as a paid employee for Republican Greg Abbott's campaign, as its spokesperson for the game. Abbott caught heat from politicians in the southern state who urged him to give his stance on the DREAM act, which allows children who were brought into the U.S. illegally by their parents to receive financial aid.
