Thread: California's ‘La Migra’ deportation game

Controversial ‘La Migra’ deportation game divides Bay Area city

By KATY ST. CLAIR | kstclair@timesheraldonline.com | (Vallejo) Times Herald
PUBLISHED: April 25, 2017 at 11:54 am | UPDATED: April 25, 2017 at 12:01 pm

BENICIA – An organized game played by Benicia High School students based on ICE agents “deporting” undocumented immigrants has split the town between those who say “kids will be kids” and others who find the game to be deeply offensive.

Either way, says a spokesperson for the Benicia Police Department, the game is “out of our control.”

The game is known as “La Migra,” which is reportedly Mexican slang for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The origins of the game aren’t known, but it seems to mainly be played in the North Bay, with reports of it going back as far as the ’90s.

According to several interviews between Benicia students and the Times-Herald, the game is played by high school students, with the older students playing the ICE agents (“drivers”) and the younger students playing the immigrants (“runners’). Students gather at a park on a designated night and then split up, with the runners taking off on foot and the drivers chasing them in cars.

The object of the game is to catch a runner, take his or her cellphone, and then drop the person off in some faraway location, as if to simulate dumping them “across the border.” The runner then has to find his or her way back home.

Some accuse the game of being racially tone-deaf at best, particularly with the Trump administration stepping up deportations of undocumented people.

The Benicia Police Department is aware of the game, according to department spokesperson Irma Widjojo. She isn’t sure how long the department has known about it, but she said that due to both the racial implications of the game and safety issues, they do not support it.

“We don’t condone it,” she said. The police say they can’t stop it from occurring, however. “It’s out of our control,” Widjojo said.

The extent to which the Benicia School District knows about La Migra isn’t clear.

When asked to comment on it, Benicia Superintendent Dr. Charles Young responded via email:

“The Benicia Unified School District promotes the safety and well being of all our students. We do not support or promote activities students may choose to engage in the are in any way counter to our mission.”

Dr. Young did not respond to further questions about the game, including the extent to which the school is involved, or whether or not the district has communicated with students about the cultural insensitivity around it.

Meanwhile, the town seems divided.

“La Migra would be fun if the whole concept behind it wasn’t The Most Racist Possible Benicia Thing Ever lol,” a junior at Benicia High School posted on Twitter.

“It’s a sort of tradition,” she told the Times-Herald in a later conversation. “Kind of like typical hazing … The game itself is just typical high school stuff, it’s the punch line of it that gets to me — the fact that it’s called La Migra kind of makes light out of border patrol brutality and I think that’s pretty insensitive.”

A senior who played the game in early April in Benicia said that the students who participate don’t really give the racial aspects of it much thought, though she said she can understand why people might find it offensive.

“Not many adults know about it and the students don’t really care,” she said.

From what the Times-Herald has learned, the racial makeup of the game’s participants appears to be diverse, including even Latino students. In fact, it’s not apparent that the teens who participate are even treating the game like a version of ICE versus immigrants when they are actually playing it.

Aside from any racial implications, the game has also raised the issue of student safety.

The game is also played in Crockett, and at least one resident there appealed to the city council there about safety concerns.

According to recorded minutes of a 2015 meeting, a resident said, “There is a dangerous game, called La Migra, that usually occurs after football games late at night, after 11 p.m. It has been going on for years and has been increasing in frequency in part because of social media. It’s not restricted to just (John Swett High School), it includes youths from Crockett, Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole, and Vallejo.

Groups of kids in trucks and cars are the “immigration police” and the “illegals” are people on foot … Cars drive the wrong way down streets, youths cut through private property.

“It is an accident waiting to happen.”

One Benicia student reported hearing about a participant’s clothes being removed before depositing them far away. Another said she had heard of water balloons full of bleach being thrown. Several people reported “eggings” occurring, though none of these things has ever been reported to the Benicia Police Department, Widjojo said.

Vallejo resident Maria Guevara recently learned about the game and said she was horrified. She mentioned the game during an address she made to the Vallejo City Council about the need for more cultural sensitivity.

“For me, it’s so hurtful,” she told the Times-Herald. “No one should ever compare hurts and pains, but it’s kind of like making a joke about slavery or the Holocaust. It’s that painful for me as an immigrant. It’s a deep and everlasting fear, and when someone’s deported, they are deported forever.”

Perhaps the best glimpse into the rift the game has caused can be found on the “Benicia Happenings” post on Facebook from April 8.

The comments got so heated that the administrator had to disable them.

It began when user named Julie posted the following: “REMINDER!!! La Migra is TONIGHT!!! Many high schoolers will be running wild and driving around playing the game … drive slow and please be alert and PLEASE remember they are kids and police are involved. Don’t go too hard on them unless it’s a safety issue!! Few eggs might happen few kids might run through your yard. Remember when you were a kid? It isn’t a robber so please don’t react w gun or b scared it’s kids. Mine will be out tonight so I’m pleading for us all to not over react so they all come home safe.”

Dozens of comments followed, with everything from “I wanna play!” to “Is it really a mock immigration roundup? If so that is really gross.”
“Certainly not PC, but the kids have a blast,” said one poster.

“They’ve been doing for years and years in Benicia.”

“I read this post and am completely disgusted that Benicia would support this,” said poster Steve. “An event called ‘La Migra’ that is described as ‘freshman running around town trying not to get caught by upper class who try to catch them?’ I’d expect this from some small town in the deep South, not from a local Bay Area community that I live in. I mean… who cares if it’s been done for years. Let’s try to use a bit of common sense and sensitivity!”

Benicia parent Megan Bayles said she hadn’t heard of the game until she saw the posting about on Facebook and it made her “physically ill.”

“One of the reasons we moved to Benicia from Oakland is because it is a relatively racially and ethnically diverse town,” she said. “What was apparent on the Benicia Happenings thread was that identity and politics aren’t in alignment.”

Plenty of others in the thread accused people of being overly sensitive about a harmless game, referring to concerned posters as “snowflakes” and comparing the game to “cops and robbers.”

But as more debate about the game arose on Facebook and the police heard rumblings about the controversy, the department appeared to take a stronger public stance against it.

After a La Migra game was announced in Benicia last Friday, the BPD on April 21 posted on Facebook: “This event is not sanctioned by the City of Benicia nor the Benicia Unified School District. In fact, both the City and the School District have strong concerns about the game because it could be dangerous to the participants … In addition, it’s our understanding that the game occurs within a framework that could be considered negative and insensitive to members of our community. As such, neither agency approve of the game.”

Benicia police said it responded to reports of kids throwing eggs and running into traffic on Friday, but did not witness any of that nor cite anyone. Widjojo said that there has never been any documented criminal activity associated with the event.

Now that more of the town is talking about the game and has concerns, the Benicia police said they “will be reaching out to the school district and working with them to address this issue going forward. Further discussion will take place,” Widjojo said.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/04/...bay-area-city/

Urban Dictionary: La Migra

by La Migra General September 20, 2003. 820 242 ...
La Migra. A game played at night-time, generally in California. It's basically hide and seek with cars.