Borrowing a controversial idea from the University of Michigan, members of MSU's chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom plan to dress a volunteer as an illegal immigrant and encourage students to "catch" him or her in the upcoming months.
"Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" will likely take place after the November elections, YAF Chairman Kyle Bristow said, adding they want to keep the date a secret to deter protesters.
The international relations sophomore said the goal is to raise awareness of the issue of illegal immigration.
"We're committing cultural suicide if we don't address it. We need to establish a national language because it defends our culture," he said.
Co-chairman of Culturas de las Razas, or CRU, Rigoberto Lopez, a packaging and engineering senior, said the event will cause some students to feel unsafe and members of his organization would likely protest.
"I would feel uncomfortable walking around campus," he said. "I feel like I'm a target. It will make more students who are Hispanic feel uncomfortable just going to class or even studying."
The idea for the event came when Morgan Wilkins, an independent contractor hired by the College Republican National Committee, visited U-M's campus to try to recruit students. Wilkins discussed events such as "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" and "Fun with Guns Day," during which students would shoot cardboard images of Democrats with BB or paintball guns.
U-M YAF Chairman Andrew Boyd said "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" is still being planned by YAF members to take place before the end of the month.
The game would consist of volunteers dressing up in a neutral-colored shirt with an "Illegal Immigrant" sign on it. Whoever "catches" the volunteer will win a $100 to $200 cash prize, Boyd said.
"There will for sure be one (volunteer)," Boyd said. "There may be two, perhaps one will be used as a decoy. They will have a green card in his pocket and when you catch him, he'll show you that, and then you can let him go and go find the illegal one."
The event is being put on for attention, said Karissa Chabot, president of the MSU College Democrats.
"The College Democrats just see this as such a disgrace and such a shame," said Chabot, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior. "They're trying to get the shock vote, and we think this is quite disgusting that they would use racism and violence to attract voters."
Boyd said there is nothing wrong with the event, and it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity.
"Illegal immigration is a problem with the Mexican and Canadian borders," Boyd said. "In the state of Michigan, we have drug trafficking coming over the border every day. That is what we would like to emphasize with the game."
YAF members at MSU planned to chalk sidewalks with slogans such as "Speak English" and "Build the wall" on Wednesday night.
"We want a wall built where people are crossing in droves," Bristow said. "We need to send troops to all the borders, wherever the illegals are coming."
The MSU College Republicans, who are split on the topic of illegal immigration, will not participate in the event, said Jeff Wiggins, the MSU College Republicans chairman and a history senior.
"I'm not going to tell anybody that they can't go to this. I'm not going to be mad at this," Wiggins said. "A lot of people in our group don't agree with it, and to be fair to them, we won't do it."
Though people might see the event as racist, Wiggins said he doesn't think it has anything to do with race.
"Whether you think this is tactful or not, that's another opinion," he said. "You can't just say it's racist when no racism has been implemented. Nowhere was any race specified in any of this."
Campus editor Kristi Jourdan contributed to this report.
