According to the Texas Tribune, students at the University of Texas in Austin are making headlines (again) for planning a game of “catch the undocumented immigrant”:
On Wednesday, the campus chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas will offer students $25 gift cards if they can “catch” an undocumented immigrant — a group of volunteers wearing “illegal immigrant” labels. The event is intended to “spark a campus-wide discussion about the issue of illegal immigration and how if affects our everyday lives,” according to a brief statement released by Lorenzo Garcia, the YCT chapter chairman…
The YCT bills itself as a non-partisan youth organization whose legislative priorities include eliminating a state law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college tuition rates if they graduate from a Texas high school.
The event is particularly notable because it is being organized by Lorenzo Garcia, a field representative for gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott’s campaign. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa had this to say about the upcoming “game” and its connection to Abbott
Greg Abbott has already put fear into the hearts of hardworking college students in Texas, through his refusal to take a real position on the Texas DREAM Act. While Abbott has said he doesn’t support the DREAM Act as it is, he refuses to say what he would change and if he supports it at all. And now one of his staffers is organizing theatrical arrests on campus. Our young and promising DREAM Act scholars already live in enough fear of Abbott, without his staff also forcing them to watch mock arrests.
This is an incredible shame. Greg Abbott owes Texas DREAM Act scholars an apology, and he must come out and immediately denounce Wednesday’s event. This style of hatred and fear is not the type of leadership Texas deserves.
The same student group also ran into controversy earlier this fall, when they organized an affirmative action bake sake that charged people different prices depending on their ethnic background.