This previous summer time, children turned to Roblox to protest the aggressive, violent escalation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Now, activists are utilizing each Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto V roleplay to teach avid gamers on learn how to deal with an IRL ICE raid.
As reported by each 404 Media and WIRED, a worldwide gamer group referred to as New Save Collective has been organizing particular occasions in video video games that mimic real-world ICE raids to assist elevate consciousness and educate gamers about their rights. On November 20, the collective organized a GTA V occasion, which came about within the GTA On-line RP servers and featured masked ICE brokers stopping gamers and demanding they present identification.
On November 21, New Save Collective held a associated occasion within the at the moment Simpsons-themed Fortnite, particularly within the “Delulu” mode, the one one which options proximity chat. It allowed gamers to satisfy one another in-game earlier than practising what to do if ICE approaches them in a real-life state of affairs. The role-playing occasion featured brokers performed by the Collective (which has just lately partnered with different immigration advocacy teams like Immigrants Belong and Outline American) making an attempt to detain and/or query “vulnerable” civilians, their chosen time period for folks most frequently focused by ICE raids.
In clips shared with 404 Media, the brokers reportedly urged different gamers, who weren’t the goal of their search, to depart. “This does not concern you,” one stated. An individual responded with, “We’re allowed to record,” whereas the group of “civilians” closed in on the 2 brokers, who have been standing on prime of a golf cart. The brokers resolve to “abandon the vehicle” and go away, throughout which a participant yells, “Yeah, I threw a pizza at you!”
Clearly, that is nothing like how an ICE raid goes in the true world, however that’s the purpose—to permit avid gamers an opportunity to role-play what may very well be a really scary scenario with comparatively low stakes. An organizer advised 404 Media that the purpose of the house was much less coaching for a possible ICE raid and extra “to organize a community and build trust.”
Each ICE and the White Home have repeatedly co-opted gaming to each promote their anti-immigrant propaganda and function potential recruitment areas. The newest instance occurred final month when official government Twitter accounts shared AI-generated images of Trump as Halo’s Grasp Chief and calls to “stop the Flood.” It’s heartening to see New Save Collective attempt to steal again some digital house from the alt-right. The “culture change organization” devoted to humanizing immigrants, Outline American, advised Wired that, “Gaming wasn’t kind of a random genre that we chose. We’ve been tracking anti-immigrant myths and disinformation digitally for years.”
New Save Collective will maintain extra occasions all through the remainder of 2025, and advised 404 Media the response to date has been “overwhelmingly positive,” apart from the folks claiming to be ICE brokers who’ve tried to affix the Discord server.
