Dear Editor:

We, the undersigned faculty, are deeply disturbed by the "Illegal Immigration Capture the Flag" event that the campus Republicans attempted to stage on May 1. This game of "catch the immigrant," involving students dressed as INS officers chasing presumably illegal immigrants in the Quad, is racist and offensive to the principles of respect for racial diversity that are central to the UC Davis Principles of Community.

This "game" was even more troubling to us because it was held during La Raza Cultural Days, and on May 1, a day when students at UC Davis and around the nation were trying to draw attention to the struggles of workers and immigrants.

Students are welcome to express their political views and comment on immigration policy. However, the premise of this public spectacle was racist, anti-immigrant and xenophobic, and as such makes a mockery of academic freedom, especially in a climate of deepening anti-immigrant sentiment, scapegoating, and ongoing racial profiling of immigrants and other minorities.

We are interested in having thoughtful discussions of immigration policy, but we are troubled that some would reduce these issues to a nativist caricature designed to shock and offend. The game was not a good example of how to model civil discourse and critical debate on matters of public policy. Such an event creates a climate of fear and hate and tarnishes the local, regional and national image of UC Davis.

Sunaina Maira

professor of Asian American Studies

Caren Kaplan

professor of Cultural Studies

Adela de la Torre

professor of Chicana/o Studies

and 52 other faculty members