The upcoming online release of a video game called ICED! I Can End Deportation has people on both sides of the immigration debate talking about video games for the first time since Donkey Kong got his papers. To kick off the edutainment, you select one of five characters who vary in ethnicity and legal status. La migra hounds you to no end, and your likelihood of being thrown in a detention center depends on how many points you have. Earn them by being a model citizen (i.e., planting trees, helping the elderly, volunteering), or lose them by doing the fun stuff you’re not supposed to (e.g., jumping subway turnstiles and robbing bodegas). According to the game’s developers / human rights group Breakthrough, somewhere in this absurd gameplay lies criticism of the current system, its poorly run detention centers, and unjust deportation hearings. All we see is a shot at being the undocumented day laborer from Mexico we’ve always dreamed of being.

Virtually Running From Deportation [ABC News]
ICED! I Can End Deportation [Breakthrough]
Image [Breakthrough]