ICED Video Game
Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 10:50PM
Margaret Vaughan

Take a look at this educational video game online called ICED (I CAN END DEPORTATION), a wordplay on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acronym.  In this game, you put yourself in the position of an immigrant youth (with a choice of five diverse youth) without immigration documents and therefore trying to stay as invisible as possible. The game shows how since 1996 immigration policies harshly impact immigrants. Playing the game also dispels myths such as immigrants do not pay taxes.  Some of the exact details of immigrants and political economy may not be included, but the game is thought-provoking.  In the game, you make decisions that can advance your situation or decisions that draw attention to your character/yourself, despite either path you still are in danger of getting arrested and then you can choose to play another layer of the game in a detention center.   You can download the game on your computer and take a pre-game survey and a post-game survey. I find that moving the character around is challenging and disorienting, but this is also probably a lot like the actual experience of being in this position, as an undocumented youth.  

http://www.icedgame.com/

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