'Find the Illegal Immigrant' Game Sparks Massive Protests

Carrying signs and chanting slogans like "Racists out," hundreds of people protested a "Find the Illegal Immigrant" game sponsored by a Republican student group at New York University on Thursday.

NYU students protested a "Find the Immigrant Game" sponsored by the NYU College Republicans.

(Ashley Phillips)
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In the politically charged version of hide-and-seek sponsored by NYU College Republicans, one volunteer was assigned to walk around the NYU area with a name tag that read "Illegal Immigrant." The first person to find the volunteer was supposed to win a gift certificate for an undisclosed amount. When word of the game began spreading across campus over the weekend, several other student groups organized a protest.

"The game is going to bring awareness" to the issue of immigration, said Sarah Chambers, President of the NYU College Republicans, at the protest. "This is a dialogue. ... This is an event the community is talking about. I guarantee you that if we had a debate" on illegal immigration, the media would not have been there, she said.

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But instead of creating dialogue, most of the protestors who chanted, carried signs and handed out flyers were separated from the table set up by the Republican group by a police perimeter closely watched by campus security and NYU staffers.

Students At Odds

Dave Hancock, a 21-year-old NYU senior and a member of Students Creating Radical Change, one of the primary organizers of the protest, found the game's premise offensive and racist.

"This is a spontaneous coalition [of campus groups] that emerged [to fight] the offensive political event organized by Republicans," said Hancock, a 21-year-old NYU senior and a member of Students Creating Radical Change, one of the primary organizers of the protest.

Characterizing the game as a "dehumanizing exercise in immaturity," Hancock said the protesters purpose in being there was to "be pro-active and stand in solidarity with undocumented folks."

"The idea of the event in general is disgusting," said 18-year-old neuroscience major Jordan Maki, a freshman.

Maki also said ads for the event "racialized the immigrants" by depicting them solely as Hispanic. Republican group members continuously said they were never targeting one group.