Halloween costume spooks immigrants
MIAMI (AP) – A Halloween costume that depicts a space creature in orange prison garb emblazoned with the words “illegal alien” is reigniting debate over a long-used term based on the U.S. government’s designation of all foreigners as aliens.
The dispute has immigrant advocates calling on retailers to pull the costume from its shelves, while a group that supports strict immigration laws say it’s all a to-do over nothing, with freedom of speech being turned upside down by political correctness.
Since Friday, when the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights in Los Angeles first raised the issue, companies including Target, Walgreens and eBay have removed the costume from their inventory. Still, many local retailers continue to stock the costume that also comes with a “green” card – which technically makes the alien legal.
At costume stores in Miami, the responses have been mixed.
Don King, whose mother immigrated from Cuba, bought pirate and Homer Simpson costumes Tuesday at Halloween USA in midtown Miami, where the costume is on sale but has attracted few customers. “It’s a joke,” King said. “I really don’t think much of it.”
A few miles away in the Little Havana neighborhood, workers at a popular costume store said it was not something they would carry because it was discriminatory. They do stock a human taco costume, replete with a Mariachi hat.
Cashier Carmen Torres, who recalled facing discrimination after arriving from Cuba as a young girl in the 1960s, said the costume was tasteless. “They haven’t done anything bad. You can punish those who are criminals, but not people who are trying to, trying to work,” Torres said.