The website, unveiled on Thursday, gives a “MAGA” twist to familiar games such as Snake and Tetris. It was presented by the White House as a new way to promote Trump’s policies through entertainment and social media.
US President Donald Trump has taken a soft power approach to his deportation agenda. The White House has launched an online gaming website featuring arcade-style games that let players deport migrants and build a border wall, as his administration intensifies its crackdown on undocumented immigration. The website, unveiled on Thursday, gives a “MAGA” twist to familiar games such as Snake and Tetris. It was presented by the White House as a new way to promote Trump’s policies through entertainment and social media.
In a series of posts shared on X, the White House teased a bunch of deportation themed games that were inspired by some of the most popular arcade games. It teased the launch of the website by a video featuring a "make America great again” logo styled after the branding of video game maker Sega. The video then goes on to show snippets of gameplay from various games. The White House promoted the games on X with “CAN'T STOP WINNING. Build the wall. Deport. Fill a Trump Account,” the post said.
One of the games, Rio Run, is based on Snake. It features a digital version of US border czar Tom Homan chasing migrants of different skin colours along the Rio Grande, which forms part of the US-Mexico border. Another game, Build the Wall, is modelled on Tetris. Players stack blocks to construct a border wall. Its instructions tell users to “Protect the border from the coming horde.” A third game asks players to collect nets and place them into so-called “Trump accounts”. These are investment accounts containing a $1,000 deposit for children born between 2025 and 2028.
The White House said the games were designed to communicate the administration’s policies in a format that could reach a wider audience. “This administration is laser-focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the President's many accomplishments in a way that resonates with every American,” the White House said in a statement to AFP, “This is an effort to further contrast between a culture of fun and winning and the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.”
The launch, however, drew swift criticism from rights groups, who accused the administration of turning the lives of migrants into entertainment. “Makes me sick. They've been playing games with people's lives for years, now they've made a video game of what they're doing,” Amerika Garcia Grewal, co-director of the Frontera Federation in Eagle Pass, Texas, told AFP. “There’s no attention paid to the quality of life for human beings, both those in their game or those in real life. We who live in the borderlands are US citizens and yet are treated with suspicion and violence,” she added. The game designers “have lost touch with what it means to be human and care for others.”
Trump returned to power after campaigning on a promise to deport millions of undocumented migrants. Since taking office, his administration has introduced measures aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing illegal border crossings. The White House has also frequently used social media stunts and provocative online content to promote Trump’s agenda and mock his political opponents. The gaming campaign comes amid that broader push, with immigration enforcement remaining one of the administration’s central priorities.
