Cards Against Humanity Is Buying Up Border Land To Stop Trump's Wall

Cards Against Humanity markets itself as a "party game for horrible people," but its latest endeavor ventures out of the party scene and into the political realm. On Tuesday, the company announced an initiative called "Cards Against Humanity Saves America," intended to stop Trump from building his notorious border wall along a portion of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The company's website explains the initiative in its own choice words:

Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans. He is so afraid that he wants to build a twenty-billion dollar wall that everyone knows will accomplish nothing. So we’ve purchased a plot of vacant land on the border and retained a law firm specializing in eminent domain to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built.

Eminent domain is the ability of a government to take an owner's private land (with compensation) and put it to public use. And there has to be a justifiable reason like utility needs or public safety concerns.

If Trump's border wall is built the way he intends, lots of private land will need to be confiscated, including golf courses, ranches, farms, orchards, and more. Some of it belongs to Trump's own supporters. Furthermore, similar land seizures have happened before, and not long ago: In 2006, President George Bush's Secure Fence Act allowed him to build fences along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border. A sweep of eminent domain cases followed, around 22 percent of which are ongoing.

According to a report published by members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Monday, the Trump administration is currently trying to obtain $2 million to hire 12 Justice Department land acquisition lawyers for an "initial surge" of eminent domain seizures along the border. It seems that Cards Against Humanity Saves America has come at an opportune moment.

Of course, this is also a holiday promotion for the company. The creators are honest about that, though they also somewhat facetiously claim that "America will be saved" if you participate.

To take part in the project, Cards Against Humanity is asking people to send $15 to the company, which apparently means that these donors will own a portion of the land plot themselves. Supporters will receive a map of the land and a certificate pledging that the company will continue fighting against the wall. They'll also get new game cards and "six America-saving surprises."

If Cards Against Humanity has been off your radar for a few years, it's not because the franchise hasn't continued to churn out bizarre content. Earlier this year the company purchased a joke 30-second Super Bowl advertisement that consisted only of a potato with the word "ADVERTISEMENT" on it and some white noise in the background. The company claimed that 114.4 million people viewed the clip. Cards Against Humanity also regularly pulls Black Friday pranks: In 2016, for example, they raised $100,000 and used it to dig a giant hole.

In addition to these more frivolous activities, the company has also donated to a host of charities and created a scholarship for women getting STEM degrees. They've spoken out for political causes, too. In March, Congress voted to repeal an Obama-era regulation that forbade internet service providers (ISPs) from selling data about customers' online habits, like their browser histories. Game maker Max Temkin then tweeted out, "If this sh*t passes I will buy the browser history of every congressman and congressional aide and publish it. cc @SpeakerRyan"

Trump went on to sign that resolution, and Temkin — true to his word — began a Kickstarter to buy Congress' browser data. However, as of this writing, the major ISPs have claimed that they have no plans to actually sell user data.

You can participate in Cards Against Humanity Saves America by simply visiting the game's website. The project may seem like it's coming out of left field for an intentionally miscreant company, but it could actually make a difference in the fight against Trump's wall. One question on the project's FAQ page pretty accurately sums up its views on the wall: "Is Cards Against Humanity being politically correct now?" The answer: "We're just being regular correct."