New York, NY, May 24, 2006 … America's immigration debate has led to the spread of video games on the Internet where Hispanics are caricaturized, stereotyped, shown as objects for derision and hate … even used for target practice.

But what most people who download and play the games don't necessarily realize is that they have been created behind the scenes by a digital army of technologically savvy white supremacists who use the appeal of video games to attempt to lure unsuspecting young people into their underworld of hate, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

 "The extremist groups hope that young people will find and share these video games, not realizing that they are not just anti-immigrant, but racist and anti-Semitic," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "White supremacists hope that if they can get people to click on these games, they will eventually visit their Web sites and be drawn in by their racist message."

Shoot-to-kill video games containing gross caricatures of Hispanics, such as "Border Patrol," have become increasingly popular among those opposed to immigration and are widely shared among extremists.  Such games are easily shared, e-mailed and downloaded on the Internet, enabling white supremacists to tap into a potential audience of millions of unsuspecting Internet users.

In "Border Patrol" – one of the more popular of these games created in Flash and available on the Internet through various extremist Web sites – the object is to "kill" caricatures of Mexicans as they attempt to cross the border and gain entry to the U.S. 

In recent years, extremist groups such as the neo-Nazi National Alliance have also created more sophisticated video games, such as "Ethnic Cleansing."  The game's first level has caricatures of Hispanics in sombreros and ponchos, and when you shoot them they fall over saying, "I need a siesta now!"

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.