Toma el Paso is featured as one of “50 Games for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice”

blue book cover with large capitalized text "Learning, Education, and Games" at the top and below that is a white graphic image of a desktop computer screen and a bendable desk lamp. Below that is text "Volume 4: 50 Games to Use for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice.
Book cover for "Learning, Education, and Games - Volume 4: 50 Games to Use for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice"

Lien Tran and Dr. Katherine Moran (St. Louis University) co-authored a double-blind, peer-reviewed chapter for the 4th edition of Learning, Education, & Games: 50 GAMES TO USE FOR INCLUSION, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE, published on January 23, 2024, by Carnegie Mellon University Press. The chapter features Tran’s game Toma el Paso as an educational resource on immigration.

Toma El Paso (Make a Move) playthrough
Toma el Paso immigration game

Summary

The original audience for Toma el Paso is unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant minors (UUIM) currently in the care of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and undergoing removal proceedings to learn about the three pathways for release from the current shelter in which they are staying. The game introduces players to key personnel, namely the case manager, and critical
items required for each pathway. By playing the game, UUIM gains important information that can reduce confusion about their current situation, which may help them make informed real-world decisions about which pathway to select and what actions, within their control, to take. When played in an educational context, players can take on the perspective of a UUIM applying for shelter release.

On most turns, a player starts by rolling a six-sided die and moves up to the number rolled and in any direction; a player’s very first objective is to land on the same space as and ‘meet’ with the case manager. At this first meeting, the player is presented with three application ‘envelopes’ showing a brief description for each possible pathway: reunification, federal foster care, and voluntary departure. Once they select which one to apply for, the player flips over this envelope and finds three critical items they must collect before submitting their application. They must move around the board to achieve these items and then apply for release. The optional chance cards introduce both actionable and external events that speed up or slow down your application and approval.

HOW TO USE THE GAME

This game works best in a classroom in which students know a little about the recent history of immigration and detention in the United States, particularly the immigration of undocumented minors, before playing. To prepare students, teachers might assign a series of recent news articles or first-person accounts. For example, in a college-level immigration history course, students read scholarship on detention centers before playing. For a suggested bibliography, see
https://immigrationgames.com/find-activities/educational-resources/.

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