Illegal immigrant theme park

Thanks to my friend Mike for pointing out this story, which actually ran in the travel section of the NYT. In central Mexico, at the “Parque Eco Alberto,” there is an illegal immigrant theme park. For $18, you pretend to be someone trying to cross into the United States. This means an actor playing the coyote, others as the Border Patrol (complete with guns shooting blanks), etc. It is run by the Hñahñus, a Mexican indigenous group (many of whom have emigrated themselves) and was started up with financing from the government. It attracts mostly Mexican tourists.

When the smell of gunfire dissipated, we sneaked away, crossing cornfields, passing drowsy mules and slipping under barbed-wire fences. Brown moths darted in and out of the flashlight beams, and the guides philosophized about the significance of the hike, the empathy it aims to teach.

The article points out that Doctors Without Borders has set up tent camps around the U.S. to show people what a refugee camp is like. But that example seems less participatory. In this park, you are pretending to be an immigrant, which is actually extremely dangerous in real life. Doctors Without Borders, for example, would not likely ask people to play the roles of Sudanese refugees. Is it really consciousness-raising, or just for tourists who believe it would be exciting to playact a dangerous situation without fear of real risk?