The recent release of classic arcade games on the White House website, which allow players to deport migrants and build a border wall, has stoked more fear and anger among Filipino-Americans, as observers call out the “xenophobic” tactics in US President Donald Trump’s widening immigration crackdown.
Analysts and immigrant advocates described the games, unveiled on Thursday, as “frightening”, trivialising the human toll of the policies and normalising hostility towards migrants, particularly among younger people.
“CAN’T STOP WINNING. Build the wall. Deport. Fill a Trump Account,” the White House said after launching the games, including Rio Run. It lets users chase immigrants next to the Rio Grande River running through the Texas-Mexico border, featuring border tsar Tom Homan.
Another Tetris-based game instructs players to “build the wall” by stacking blocks and “protect the border from the coming horde”. The company on Friday said it did not grant permission for the White House to reference its visuals or gameplay.
The United States has expanded its immigration blitz in recent months, arresting, deporting and holding people in poorly maintained detention centres, including those authorised to stay in the country.
In July, a record number of immigrants were deported, while the arrests hit 49,571, legal scholars and researchers at the Deportation Data Project said.