by Hernan Rozemberg
EXPRESS-NEWS IMMIGRATION WRITER
11/26/2007

It was 3 a.m., and knowing he faced hours in line to enter the United States because of ramped up security stemming from the 9-11 attacks, Francisco Ortega passed the time by putting his imagination to use.

The effort proved fruitful: He created "Crossing the Border," a board game in which up to four players try to legally cross the U.S.-Mexico boundary in toy cars that could be saddled with illegal contraband, from people to drugs.

"I wanted to present the dynamic situation at the border through an entertaining medium," said Ortega, a graphic arts professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, who already had juxtaposed immigration issues with games during his earlier studies and work in El Paso.

"A lot of people see immigration as a problem, but they don't know what it's like to be in an immigrant's shoes," said Ortega, a native of Ciudad Juárez now applying for permanent residency. "I'm hoping that if they play my games, they might have a change of heart."

He's part of an unorganized sliver of the immigrant advocacy movement that has turned to games. While their political fight in Washington fizzled as bill after bill to enact migrant-friendly policies was shot down, some advocates have looked for other ways to get their message out.

So far, the use of games on the opposite side of the immigration debate apparently is limited to groups that target illegal immigration as part of a larger agenda against racial and ethnic minorities.

An Internet-based game called "Border Patrol" offers players moving targets to gun down, including women with children in tow and drug smugglers, as they attempt to illegally cross the border. Points accumulate with each kill, while deductions are assessed for misses.

Although he doesn't know who designed the Flash-based game, Tom Metzger, director of White Aryan Resistance, offers it to his Web site visitors. While he wouldn't encourage people to go to the border and shoot illegal crossers in real life, he said the game serves a purpose.

"It's an ominous warning that if we don't do something, we could easily end up with real violence," said Metzger, formerly based in California, now in Indiana.

That's a point that even some immigration advocates could concede. The political impasse in Washington fuels societal frustration and animosity against immigrants, but a good way to alleviate tensions is to use games to promote awareness and tolerance, they say.

Breakthrough, a human rights group in New York City, plans to allow the public to begin downloading "ICED!" in January.

The name of the Internet-based digital game stands for "I Can End Deportation" and is a play on the acronym of the federal agency tasked with detaining and deporting illegal immigrants -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. It allows players to choose one of five immigrant teenagers of various backgrounds.

Players essentially live the immigrant characters' lives in New York City, forced to make moral and legal decisions as they walk the streets. Federal agents are ubiquitous and pepper them with questions -- answer incorrectly and you're bound for a detention center.

The point of the game is to be exposed to an unfair immigration law passed more than a decade ago that stripped due process for immigrants in the legal system while enforcing mandatory detention and deportation policies, according to Breakthrough.

The key to such games is to offer the educational aspect in a subtle manner, Ortega said. While the subject is serious, the point is to make it fun for people, since, after all, they're playing a game, he said.

Ortega was part of a team in El Paso that designed two pioneering border video games, "Crosser" and "La Migra," and currently is at work on three other board games.

It may be hard to imagine that games tackling somber subjects could become popular, yet that's the goal of a growing movement seeking to take the games from underground to mainstream.

Suzanne Seggerman, founder and president of Games for Change in New York City, said her group has become like a Sundance Institute for video games.

Immigration is the latest hot topic to hit the industry, particularly given its importance in the presidential election, Seggerman said.

"I've never been inside an immigration court, and I've never been threatened with deportation," she said. "Games like 'ICED!' allow players to explore unfamiliar environments in an interactive way that even film and TV can't offer."

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hrozemberg@express-news.net
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Immigration-themed games

The national immigration debate now has hit the video game world. So far, it has been a move made mostly by migrant advocates, who hope players will be simultaneously educated and entertained. Here are some games and where they can be found on the Internet:

-- Two games, one, "Crosser," from the perspective of immigrants trying to illegally cross into the United States from Mexico, and another, "La Migra," featuring Border Patrol agents trying to stop illegal crossers. Both can be downloaded at http://sudor.net/games/crosser_lamigra/index.html.

-- A game set for public debut in January called "ICED!" puts players in the shoes of teenage immigrants in New York City. More information can be found at www.breakthrough.tv.