AUSTIN — A conservative student group at the University of Texas announced Monday that it plans to organize a mock immigration roundup on campus this week as a way to start a conversation about illegal immigration.

The event, dubbed “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game,” by the UT Chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, ignited a blaze of controversy on social media that quickly spilled into the state’s gubernatorial race.

The group, which caused a stir in September by holding an affirmative action bake sale, said it will have up to five of its members spread out on campus Wednesday wearing name tags that say “illegal immigrant.”

Students who catch one of them and take that person to the YCT recruiting table will be rewarded with $25 gift cards. Organizers said the purpose, while clearly provocative, is to drum up a campuswide conversation on the hot-button topic of illegal immigration.

“If we held a forum or a public debate, no one would show up,” said Lorenzo Garcia, YCT chairman of the UT chapter. “But if we have an event like this, it gets people talking about it, and if it gets people talking about it, then we’ve succeeded.”

Announced early Monday via Facebook, the game drew almost instant condemnation from Democrats, pro-immigration groups, university officials and even Attorney General Greg Abbott, whose gubernatorial campaign was pulled into the controversy.

Within hours of the event being announced, Democrats pounced by highlighting that the event’s main organizer — YCT’s Garcia — is a former paid staffer for Abbott’s campaign.

What followed was a barrage of emails, tweets and statements from top state Democratic officials and strategists painting Abbott and his campaign as co-conspirators in what they likened to an “immigration hunt.”

“This is an incredible shame,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. “Greg Abbott owes Texas DREAM Act scholars an apology, and he must come out and immediately denounce Wednesday’s event. This style of hatred and fear is not the type of leadership Texas deserves.”

Abbott, whose campaign has said the state’s policy of allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college tuition is a noble goal but needs to be reformed, quickly distanced himself from the controversy.

“Our campaign has no affiliation with this repugnant effort,” an Abbott spokesman said.

University officials were treading carefully Monday, issuing a strong condemnation but steering clear of any mention of preventing the event from happening in one of the campus’ designated free speech zones.

Pro-immigration groups have asked the university to put the kibosh on the event, and UT officials were scheduled to meet with Garcia late Monday afternoon.

In a statement, UT officials said the event contributes to “an environment of exclusion and disrespect” and that participation could flout the school’s honor code.

“Our nation continues to grapple with difficult questions surrounding immigration,” UT President Bill Powers said in a statement. “I ask YCT to be part of that discussion but to find more productive and respectful ways to do so that do not demean their fellow students.”

Top Hispanic lawmakers also decried the event.

“It may be fun and games for certain folks on a college campus, but the bigger message it sends it not a welcoming message to Hispanics or immigrants,” said state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat and a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. “At some point, the level of disrespect and the insensitivity behind all the rhetoric becomes apparent.”

Founded in 1980, YCT has seven chapters across the state, including member groups at Baylor, Texas Tech and the University of Houston. The group lobbies for “conservative values” and typically releases legislative scorecards grading legislators on key votes.

This election cycle, the group has endorsed several candidates running statewide, including Sen. Glenn Hegar, running for comptroller; Rep. Ken Paxton, seeking the attorney general post; and former Rep. Sid Miller, running for agriculture commissioner.

UT’s YCT chapter is no stranger to controversy. In September, the group held a bake sale in which brownies were priced based on race and gender of the buyer, leading university officials to decry the event as “inflammatory and demeaning.”

Garcia said his group’s events are purposely planned to be inflammatory. The “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game,” however, was not his creation.

Similar events have taken place on college campuses around the country, including Texas.

In 2005, YCT’s chapter at the University of North Texas held an identical event to protest a renewed call for a guest worker program by then-President George W. Bush. But when the UT chapter tried duplicating those efforts with an event of its own, protesters at the Austin campus caused the event to be canceled, Garcia said.

“We’re not going to let anything like that stop us this time,” he said.

But counter-protesters are set to try, nonetheless. Pro-immigration groups already are planning to flood UT’s West Mall to stage their own demonstrations Wednesday.

“If the event is allowed to continue, we’re not just going to stay quiet,” said Ainee Athar, a UT graduate and former member of the University Leadership Initiative, a pro-immigration group made up of undocumented-immigrant students.

drauf@express-news.net