Texas conservative student group plans awful 'catch an illegal immigrant' game with $25 gift certificate prizes



The event will be held by the Young Conservatives of the University of Texas at Austin



Students marked with 'illegal immigrant' labels will walk around campus on Wednesday

Any student who 'catches' them and returns them to the club will receive a $25 gift card

'Not afraid to be politically incorrect': The group is led by group chairman Lorenzo Garcia, a former paid campaigner for Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott and intern for Senator Ted Cruz

Courting controversy: UT Austin junior Lorenzo Garcia is chairman of the school's Young Conservatives and intends to hold a mock 'Catch an Illegal Immigrant' game on campus

A Texas university conservative student group announced Monday their plans to hold a ‘Catch an Illegal Immigrant’ game where winners will receive $25 gift certificates for nabbing players marked as undocumented.



Lorenzo Garcia, chairman of UT Austin’s Young Conservatives says he came up with the idea simply as a means to ‘spark discussion’ on the issue of immigration reform, but admits his group isn’t above courting controversy.



Now that news of his group’s unseemly plan has spread, the former Senator Ted Cruz campaigner and his club have gotten a huge response, but not much of it has been positive.

‘If we held a forum or a public debate no one would show up,’ Garcia told the Houston Chronicle. ‘But if we have an event like this it gets people talking about and if it gets people talking about it then we've succeeded.’



If success is measured in angry tweets, Facebook comments, and unflattering media portrayals of their chairman, then Garcia and the Young Conservatives of UT have certainly succeeded.



No sooner had the event been announced then internet sleuths and progressive groups took the opportunity to pin Garcia—who many social media commenters have identified as Mexican American—his group, and its plans onto Republican politicians.

Pointless exercise? The student group intends to mark volunteers as 'illegal' and then give students who 'catch' them $25 gift certificates

All hail the USA: The group, seen here holding up the Texas Longhorns sign, not the sign of the devil, says the game is a way to open discussion about immigration but critics say it's blatantly racist and offensive

We will be having a "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" event this Wednesday at the West Mall. #tcot #getinthebackoftheline https://t.co/Ffjz2S92eH — YCT-UT (@YCT_UT) November 18, 2013

Specifically, the publicity around the Catch an Illegal Immigrant event led to the revelation that Garcia had previously done paid campaigning for Texas Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott.

He’d also had stints as an intern for the Texas statehouse and Tea Party favorite Senator Ted Cruz.

The Abbott campaign immediately distanced themselves from the growing controversy.



Politico in training: Angry progressive groups and internet sleuths quickly revealed that the Young Conservatives chairman was once a paid campaigner for Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbot (right) and an intern at the Texas statehouse and for Senator Ted Cruz's re-election campaign (left). Abbotts campaign has since distanced itself from Garcia and the event

.@gregabbott_tx flack on the YCT immigrant sting: "Our campaign has no affiliation with this repugnant effort” pic.twitter.com/LkrbYFoDcK — Evan Smith (@evanasmith) November 18, 2013 ‘Our campaign has no affiliation with this repugnant effort,’ Abbott’s press secretary Avdial Huerta said in a release.

History of controversy: The UT Austin Young Conservatives held a bake sale with this sign in September, writing 'If you agree with this, you agree with how the university is admitting students.' But the administration called it 'demeaning' Meanwhile, social media attacks on Garcia and his game continued. ‘Wouldn't it be awesome if I made a website with all these pictures and names of people participating in this event for future employers to see,’ wrote Facebook user David Niedrauer along with a screenshot of the guests who’ve opted to attend the event on a Facebook events page.

Most commenters stuck to calling the event racist and offensive.



The UT Austin Young Conservatives have garnered similar ire before.



The group held a bake sale in September in which brownies were priced more cheaply for students of color and for women. In tweeting a picture of the price list, the group wrote:



‘If you agree with this, you agree with how the university is admitting students. Please listen to what we're saying.’



The bake sale was later deemed ‘inflammatory and demeaning’ by UT administrators.



As for Wednesday’s event, Garcia told the Houston Chronicle he’s none too concerned about critics or even potential protestors.

