Foto AP Photo/Jon Elswick
The game ‘Rio Run’ is modelled on the classic ‘Snake’ game, reports TVAnouvelles, citing AFP. The player controls a character resembling Tom Homan — the President’s adviser on immigration — and collects people crossing the Rio Grande. The more migrants collected, the higher the score.
The second game, Build the Wall, is based on the principle of ‘Tetris’. Its objective is stated plainly: ‘Defend the border from the approaching horde’. The player must build a border wall using falling blocks.
Both games are available on the official White House website in the ‘Arcade’ section, which features a total of five titles. In addition to the immigration theme, the administration has launched games about school meals, the Trump Accounts programme for children and legislative initiatives.
The initiative has drawn criticism from human rights campaigners. América García Greval, co-director of the Texas-based Frontera Federation, told AFP that turning deportations into a game shows a disregard for the fates of the people the administration is trying to expel from the country.
The White House, by contrast, sees the gaming format as a way of communicating the administration’s achievements to a wider audience. In a statement to AFP, the administration described the project as part of an effort to create content that ‘resonates with every American’, and contrasted it with the Democrats’ policies.
The launch of the games has become yet another example of how the Trump administration is turning immigration policy into viral content designed for social media and maximum public impact.
Follow our updates
Have information for the newsroom? Share it with Logos-Press
