'Illegal Alien' Halloween costume sparks ire

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California immigrant rights group on Friday asked Target stores and a costume company to stop selling an "illegal alien" Halloween costume it said is offensive to immigrants.

The costume features the mask of an alien with a green card and an orange jumpsuit with "illegal alien" written across the front.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, wrote e-mails to Minneapolis-based Target and Wisconsin-based BuySeasons, Inc. calling the costume "distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform."

The group said it also planned to send letters to other companies that are selling the costume.

Target is removing the costume from the site after receiving several complaints, company spokesman Joshua Thomas said Friday. The store never intended to sell the outfit but included it in its online offerings by mistake, he said.

An e-mail to BuySeasons, Inc. wasn't immediately returned Friday.

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October 17, 2009 02:36 AM EDT

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